


Come Hell or High Water

by Funicula



Category: VALORANT (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, Military
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 36,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Funicula/pseuds/Funicula
Summary: Viper rarely speaks about her past, nor does she want to remember it but what if her past comes to her? Will she ever forgive the person that caused her everything? And of course new people means new relationships, what if relationships crash? (But on a serious note though, much has happened to this story so "summary" ain't a summary at all XD)
Relationships: Viper/Killjoy, Viper/OC
Comments: 35
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First time I tried writing a fanfic y'all. I did have some creative writing back in high school but I never really payed any attention so criticism and comments are much appreciated. Thanks :)

“They’re almost beaten, keep on the pressure!” The voice of some VALORANT soldier can be heard outside as the agents and the soldiers mow down the remaining Kingdom soldiers. 

“Shit this is it, what do we do Captain?” The remaining Kingdom soldiers inside the small radianite facility trembled as they awaited their imminent death. They numbered at about 60 soldiers before VALORANT did their raid. That number was reduced to 10.

“Sir!, One of their agents is deploying some sort of...EMP device?...and it’s starting to spin rapidly now”

“Just shoot the damn thing, shoot it now!” shouted the Captain with his mild Texan accent

The Kingdom sniper took aim with his operator and after some time getting his bearings straight, he fired away.

BANG!

Not only did he destroy the device but also hit the yellow jacketed agent behind it. 

“Fuck ,they’re closing in sir!”

Without a doubt the Captain issued a command 

“Y’all go through the back, I-I’ll buy you some time.”

“But sir-”

“GET ON NOW...That’s an order” The Captain gave a weak smile to his men as they reluctantly leave their captain behind.

“So much for better opportunities…ah whatever”

BOOM! 

The backdoor exploded and shrapnel flew everywhere which killed most of the soldiers. Green gas immediately seeped through the facility at such a rapid pace it reached the Captain almost instantly.

*cough cough* “what the hell?” *cough* “I can’t see a thing, can anybody hear me?” *cough*  
“Sir, I- I...Oh no, please no no, n-” followed by a radio static.

“Corporal!, Corporal!, crap!”

‘I’m starting to feel light headed’ ‘Damn VALORANT agents and their tech’ the Captain thought to himself

The comms went live again as he heard a female voice speak to one of his men, 

“You...you must be the bastard that shot her hmm?” the woman inquired in a cold monotone voice 

“Go to hell” was the immediate response of the soldier.

The woman let out a chuckle before she spoke again

“You took everything from me, now you plan to take the only thing I hold dear in life? ” 

The sniper closed his eyes and prepared for death until someone shouted.

“HEY!” 

The woman turned to face the direction of the shout and got immediately hit by the butstock of a rifle shattering the left eyepiece of her helmet.

“C’mon you bastard *cough* *cough*” 

The Captain tried to cock his gun so that he could shoot but he had already inhaled too much toxic gas that he could barely stand up and fight.

The woman seeing her clear advantage stood up and punched the captain square on the face before getting on top of him while pulling her knife out to finish the job

The Captain, now facing death herself did not avert his gaze, rather he stared menacingly back at the enraged bleeding eye of the woman

“Do it already, DO IT!” Cried the Captain

Surprisingly, the woman only looked at him but now with a puzzled eye. She then flipped her knife and slammed the handle on the Captain’s head, knocking him cold.

“Viper, what’s the situation there?” Viper stood up and replied

“All clear, except one. I’ll need him for my research”

“Viper, we talked about this. No human experimentations.”

“Don’t tell me what to do old man, besides I have other plans for him”

There was a long sigh before the man spoke again.

“Very well, I’ll have a team pick him up, Brimstone out”

Viper was about to inspect the Captain again before the sniper who was still breathing tried his best to speak

“You’re *cough* all *cough* gonna die...You’l-”

Before he could finish his sentence Viper put a whole in his head using her Ghost.

“...Pathetic…” Viper scoffed 

When the team Brimstone sent picked up the Captain for extraction, Viper made her way to where the rest of the agents were as they too were preparing for extraction on their plane. Viper then attended to her special someone who was calmly sitting on one of the plane’s seats.

Viper sat beside her removing her gloves and placed one on Killjoy’s hands

“How you doing little Maus?”

“Sage healed me up, I’m fine”

“You really do care for me, Sabine” Killjoy teased with a pout on her lips

“I’m beginning to regret I said that” 

“Your sarcasm really makes you cute”

Viper tried to hide her blush with that comment but her short hair prevented her from doing so. Killjoy seeing her obvious triumph moved to another question.

“Who’s the Kingdom soldier?” 

Viper noticed the body being carried inside the plane and paused for a moment before answering

“I need him for some...experiments and we could possibly get some vital information out of him” 

Killjoy was never really the suspicious type but she felt that Viper was hiding something from her.

“ There’s really nothing more that I want to see than to make these people suffer for all they’ve done to us” 

Viper quirked her eyebrow at the statement 

“My little maus is not so little now huh? Since when did you develop such feelings?”

“Sabine I told you this before, I want to bear the same sufferings you bore because...well...I love you...so much”

Most of the agents started to look at them with passionate eyes but one glance from Viper was enough to scare them away and make them mind their own businesses, not to mention Viper looked more scary because she still hasn’t wiped away her blood from the hit she got.

“And look at your eye, it’s a mess good thing you only got scrapes, you’ll get a bruise though” 

“What? Oh yes, the soldier managed to hit me very hard on my helmet and broke the left visor”

“And this is why I’ll hate them all the more, they’ll never hurt my Viper again” Killjoy stated with an even more poutier pout if there’s even such a thing.

Viper begins to get vexed by the constant display of affection by her partner. She sighed before telling her to get some sleep. Killjoy then slithered her face on Viper’s neck before giving her a little peck on the cheek and after which rested her head on Viper’s shoulder which annoyed Viper all the more but seeing that she doesn't got much of a choice, she reciprocated the act on Killjoy’s head while looking at the unconscious body of the Captain until she herself fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Made Chapter 1 and 2 the whole day, so if it's kinda off please tell me. Thanks :)

Chapter 2: Old Friends

  
  


“Ah crap, what the- what the hell, Ah! There's a bump on my head!” the Captain exclaimed

“Calm down, calm down, I’m not gonna hurt you” A Chinese looking lady approached the Captain and settled him down

“You!, You’re one of em’ ” Ben accused with a jutting chin

“Yes, you may call me Sage and I’ll give you my word that I won’t hurt you”

The Captain can see through Sage’s eyes that she’s being honest. Something about Sage’s aura just gives peaceful vibes.

“Tell me Captain, what do they call you?” Sage asked as gentle as she could

“Captain Benoit (Pronounced as Benwah) Martinez, 1st Kingdom Shock Battalion, you can call me Ben because people hardly get my first name right”

Sage let out a light chuckle before showing off her language skill

“Je parle Français parfois Benoit” (I speak French sometimes Benoit)

“Vraiment? Magnifique! Mais mon Francais est mauvais so uhh...Anglais s’il vous plaît" (Really, Magnificent! But my French is bad so uhh...English please)

“Ben, do you happen to have Asian blood? Your eyes are a bit slanted and you’re skin is somewhat tan” asked the Chinese healer

“Well as far as I know my Pa’s family came from the Philippines while my maa came from France thus my name but more than anything I’m a Texas boy"

“The Philippines...” Lamented Sage

Ben lowered his head before answering 

“Yeah, the First Light just destroyed the country...Lost some good family and friends there. Pa couldn’t stop cryin’ for a week when he heard of what happened

They both conversed some more and already looked like they’ve known each for quite some time until Sage received a notification from her phone

Sage excused herself for a moment and messaged whoever texted her on her phone. 

“Ben” Sage started

“You’ll have to trust us ok? In a few minutes some guards will come here to escort you to a lab ok? Don’t worry my friend won’t do anything bad to you”

Ben raised an eyebrow at Sage’s statement before gesturing to his handcuffs which have been constricting him since he got to the medbay.

“Oh yes of course”

Sage proceeded then to uncuff Ben and remove the other needles connected to Ben’s body.

“Here, wear these.”

Sage handed Ben a white T-shirt, some green cargo pants and a pair of combat boots

“Well...turn around”

Sage giggled for a moment before turning around

“You’re really confident that I won’t turn on you and make an escape”

“Nope” Sage gleefully said. 

“ You VALORANT people don’t seem that bad after all”

“I hope you hold that view on us for a while” Sage said with a smile then a few moments later the guards came in armed with night sticks and one was carrying handcuffs which irritated Ben.

“Are you serious...you’re Agent just uncuffed me now you’re gonna cuff me again”

Before the guards could speak, Sage interjected and gestured them that it’s alright.

“I’ll go with you, consider it a little tour”

Ben nodded and the guards let him pass through. Once through door, the guards formed a square so that he can’t escape

“Well at least I’m treated as a VIP” Ben humored 

They walked down the hallway passing through multiple sections like the range, engineering area, labs ,dorms, the mess hall, and more facilities. Obviously numerous glances and stares greeted Ben as he is a Kingdom soldier, VALORANT’s enemy. One man...thing though kept on staring at Ben , he had a hood up and had three glowing sky blue vertical lines on his face. Sage told Ben that he’s named Omen and that he shouldn’t be worried about him unless Ben does something bad.

“Ok here we are, oh yeah Ben. Don’t get intimidated by her, she’s a good friend once you get to know her” They stood in front of a laboratory, it had biohazard signs on it so Ben presumed that whoever works inside must be into chemicals and what not.

“Already sounds intimidating to me but yeah, thanks Sage”

Sage nodded and she and the guards went their ways

Ben knocked on the door but nobody responded so he waited for about a minute or so until trying again but to no avail.

“Hello? Hello? Hello?” 

Ben tried to see if he could see something through the glass on the door but saw nothing, though the lights were on and some clothes were scattered.

‘Damn scientists, always leaving a mess where they go’

After a few more knocks the door finally opened and Ben was greeted by a tall woman who was only wearing a tank top and some joggers, she wore round glasses

“WHAT NOW!?” “Oh it’s you, my apologies du arschloch (a-hole) , Sabine he's here!”

Despite Killjoy being taller than Ben, Ben wasn’t scared of the German techie.

“I speak a little German too, schwein (pig)” ‘Wait did she say Sabine? Now that's a name I haven't heard in a-’

Just before Killjoy could pounce on Ben, Viper pulled her away and met Ben face to face, Ben had never been more shocked in his life

“S-Sa..Sabine?” 

Ben’s brown eyes enlarged at the pair of weary emerald eyes he thought he’ll never see again. Viper just stood there...indifferent. Ben noticed that Viper’s left eye was bruised 

“Wait...Oh my...did I do thi-” 

Ben was about to touch Viper’s left eye but was slapped away by Killjoy with such force.

“Don’t. Touch. Her.” Killjoy snarled

Before Ben could do anything else, Viper told Killjoy to wait for her in her dorm and for Ben to go inside the lab. Killjoy and Ben exchanged menacing looks before Killjoy left.

“What’s her problem?”

“...” 

“Still silent as ever, huh?”

Ben gazed upon the numerous gizmos and equipment a typical scientist would have in Viper’s lab before she ordered him to sit on the chair across her desk.

Only the machineries and Viper’s heels as she paced around her lab can be heard for the first few minutes until Ben let out a sigh and broke the silence.

“I’m so sorry”

“No”

“Sabine...you still trust me right?”  
  


Viper set down the clipboard she was writing on before answering him

“Why should I? I gave you my trust yet what did you do?”

“I still looked out for you while you were…”

Viper slammed her fists on the desk causing a mug to fall and and shouted at Ben

“YOU THINK THAT MADE UP TURNING ME IN???” “I KNEW KINGDOM WAS EVIL BUT YOU DIDN’T LISTEN TO ME!!!”

Tears were now starting to flow from Viper’s emerald eyes making it sparkle as she continued on shouting. Ben was pretty much petrified by her tenacity and couldn’t move a muscle.

“YOU JUST WANTED THE DAMN PROMOTION, WELL GOOD JOB CUNT, GOOD JOB!”

Viper’s clenched hands were still on the table so Ben took the opportunity to grab and caress them which made Viper flinch followed by a very sinister scowl.

“Let go off me” was her cold response

Ben tightened his grip but not too much to squish her hands.

“Sabine...please help me make it up to you. I’ll do anything whatever the cost.” 

Viper stared at his pleading eyes and tight lipped smile for a few seconds until she broke free from Ben’s hands and walked to where her test tubes were. 

“I dunno Ben, tell me...why should I even let you live? Most of the soldiers and agents here want you dead, the only reason you’re alive is because I gave them the excuse that we could reap vital information from you, I give them the order to waste you, they will waste you without a doubt, and don’t even start about Sage, she’s just naturally kind but she can’t do anything if I give the order to kill you”

Ben didn’t answer but instead stood up, spun Viper to his direction and gently wiped away her tears with his fingers. Viper was an inch taller than him but it was because of her heels, this didn't stop Ben from making confidently making his moves . Eyes enlarged, Viper was immensely annoyed by the act but nonetheless allowed Ben to continue to wipe her tears away. He then fixed her hair by stroking her head as soothing as possible. Viper’s scowl was soon replaced by a vacant stare. Ben can’t help but smile on the sudden change of mood. He then leaned on Viper’s forehead and gave a little kiss to the bruise he made. “I’m sorry about the eye”. Killjoy was the only person who could get this close to Viper, befriending Viper was already a difficult task itself but she let him do all those things to her without restraint.

“I can’t give an answer to that Sabine. If you want to kill me, then kill me. If that’ll help you sleep at night then do it. I don’t want to hurt you any longer” he declared.

'What the hell are you doing Sabine?, Why are you not fighting him?'

Viper was so petrified and didn't know what to do or say until she regained back her senses and pushed Ben away lightly. 

“We’ll discuss your fate tomorrow, for now I’ll have the guards escort you to your cell”

Viper called in some guards to take Ben to his cell.

“Cell? Oh right, forgot that I’m still technically your enemy.”

Viper just stared at him while the guards gestured to him to follow.

“Oh yeah Sabine, you really look nice in that turtleneck of yours and...goodnight ”

Viper nodded but also glared at him because if there’s one thing that really vexes Viper besides PDA, it’s using her real name in front of people she’s not really close with. She punches Killjoy every time she says her name out loud but she’s recently got used to it and let her pass on some occasions. 

Viper fixed her stuff and left the lab to head towards her dorm. Along the way she can’t help but think about what had just happened. She let her feelings consume her. She wants to forget her past but the past doesn’t want to forget her and worse, is now with her. When she got inside her dorm she flipped open the lights only to see Killjoy in her underwear with a lustful smile. 

“We never finished because of that guy, what do you say we pick off where we last finished?” 

Viper sighed and was a bit hesitant but proceeded to dim the lights and strip off. It was one steamy night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 of this try hard work of mine :) Gonna post chapter 4 sometime next week I guess cause I have some college stuff to work on.

“Get up” grunted one of the guards while constantly banging his nightstick stick on the cell bar.

Ben lazily got up, stretched, and fixed his fade-cut hair while avoiding the bump Viper made before turning to the guard.

“What’s for breakfast now? Last night was a disaster” 

“You’ll have breakfast with High command”

Ben was unsurprised with the statement because as far as he had observed, he’s the only prisoner who was treated differently. 

“This just keeps on getting interesting” Ben said with a smug on his face.

Ben was escorted to a conference room where 3 people were already waiting for him. A grumpy military vet with an elevated chin, A cyborg with a wide-brimmed hat ,and of course Viper who had her arms crossed and was trying to avoid his gaze. The smell of Tomato also engulfed the room.

“Please, have a seat” uttered the veteran as Ben took his seat and eyed his pasta with flashing eyes.

“Enjoy your meal, I’m told that it’s your favorite”

“Damn right you are!”

While Ben was wolfing down his meal, The cyborg spoke with his Moroccan accent

“Captain Benoit Martinez, former U.S. Air Force Pararescueman, now part of Kingdom’s shock battalions”

“Yep, that’s right and thank you for pronouncing it correctly” Ben hastily said, not wanting to get disrupted from his meal.

“We speak a little French in Morocco Mr.Martinez” 

“You can call me Cypher, I’m VALORANT’s information broker, consider everyone of your secrets...exposed”

“I’m an open book, brother” Ben stated before darting glances between Viper and his meal.

Cypher knowing the truth, laughed at the glances and proceeded to speak again

“You and Viper here share some history, yes?”

Neither Ben nor Viper said a word

“According to my findings ,Viper was part of the U.S. Army when you rescued her from the terrorists that captured her.”

“Yeah, they were like finding some chemicals or was it radianite? For her research thingy? I dunno know, I can’t fully remember” Ben mentioned

Viper directed her gaze downward, she’s clearly uncomfortable hearing the story.

“But there’s more to that correct?” Cypher queried 

Ben simply nodded and looked at Viper's elegant eye-lashes and pink eye shadows, despite how troubled and stressed she is, she never fails to present herself gracefully which Ben adored.

“After working closely for almost a year, Kingdom Corporation offered you a job within their ranks for better “opportunities” and pay”

“Yeah…”

“Kingdom also tried to hire Viper but she refused so they tried to bribe some of the higher ups within the U.S. Army which lead her to go into hiding and then eventually got captured by Kingdom because _someone_ turned on her, worse her family died in the process too” 

“I never asked but why was Kingdom so keen on getting her?” Inquired Ben

“They wanted my research, they wanted to use it against the radianites...only some _people_ would buy into their peace and security crap.” Viper scoffed, eye brows now furrowed still avoiding Ben’s eyes.

“Sabine I-”

“IT’S VIPER! SABINE IS GONE!” raged Viper

The military vet and Cypher calmed her down before speaking to Ben

“Listen here son, we use codenames here, especially if we’re talking professionally. I don’t want you calling her by her real name anytime soon, is that clear?” asserted the vet.

Ben cocked his head to the side and looked at Viper with a quizzical face which intimidated her.

“Uhuh...I mean why should I?, I let myself fall into your trap, I knew that that pasta was poisoned and that there’s a kill switch somewhere, the only reason I ate it is because I know only one person that could make such a wonderful meal despite how stoic she is”

Viper, despite clearly blushing, grinded her teeth and had bulging eyes when she pulled some sort of button from her lab coat and slammed it on the table

Ben sighed before speaking again.

“Ok, what’s the deal?”

“You’ll work for us now. I’m Brimstone, the founder of VALORANT protocol, you’ll soon meet the other agents when I call for the meeting.”

“Wait wait wait, don’t y’all have like special abilities or something that you’re good at?”

“Not to worry boy, you won’t be classified as an agent, you’ll act as Viper’s aide”

“WHAT!?!?” Viper and Ben both exclaimed.

“Don’t play games with me old man” Viper snarled 

“Unfortunately I’m not. When I was still in the Army, I heard how one of our scientists and an Airforce PJ (Para-Jumper (one of the nicknames of pararescuemen)) held an outpost by themselves using the cover of smoke and precise hits to the head.” 

Ben chuckled and reassured Brimstone that Viper scored most of the headshots and that he mostly provided suppressive fire whilst trying to call for evac. Viper went redder than the tomato pasta she made which caused Ben to grin at her. Viper's forehead wrinkled and rolled her eyes before leaving the room without saying a word.

“You two will work out just fine. You’ll still be under probation though, try anything funny boy, I dare you” Bossed Brimstone.

Ben let out exasperated sighs before nodding at Brimstone. Seeing that there was nothing more to discuss, Brimstone concluded the meeting and left with Cypher who patted Ben on the back. Ben was about to exit the room when Viper slipped in and threatened him with her knife.

“Ok, one put the knife away. I know you won’t kill me” Ben ordered with a coy smile

Viper's knife touched Ben’s apple and eyed him menacingly

“Two, stop distracting me with those emeralds of yours, I’ll bruise the other one too if you want. You want me here, don’t you? You could have killed me back there but you froze, I saw it in your eyes and besides what choice did I have now ?”

“You could have refused, and I would have happily killed you with one click” 

“But I didn’t. You know why?"

“It’s cause I chose you”

Viper sucked in those words and slowly lowered her knife and was trying to hide her eyes behind her hair.

“Look, I know what I did was very terrible. I thought that by joining, I’d be able to protect you even more”

"When they first told me about the benefits, the first thing I thought was you. All I wanted at that point was t have secure and happy life with you without losing my job but..."

Viper was trying to hold back her tears but at this point her eyes were already becoming shiny and red.

“Turns out...I was only thinking about myself. Worse...I forcibly betrayed you and gave you to them...they treated you like an animal.”

“Day and night I heard your agonizing screams, yet there I was...enjoying the status they gave me...Captain Martinez of the 1st Kingdom Shock Battalion, not a care for the world but...at what cost? 

Ben was now starting to tense up and stammer with his words.

“All I did...was watch them torture you…I don’t even know how I managed to watch them do all those things to you. You're really stubborn ya know? They tried so hard to break you but you never stopped fighting. I saw the flame in your eyes every time I visited you, I knew every part of you wanted to destroy Kingdom, me included. But I know deep inside you still viewed me as a friend, cause through those flames I saw the girl I always saved and how at that moment she was calling for help but yet nothing...I did nothing. You spared my life, now here we are working together again...I don't deserve you Sabine, I’ll never be able to forgive myself for that. Sabine I-I uhh…”

Before Ben could finish his sentence, Viper’s lips crashed into his and they were tightly locked together in an embrace that could last forever .Both were crying while they were enjoying the tender moment of love until Viper pulled away as she spotted something yellow behind Ben. This yellow figure then quickly darted away.

“Something wrong?” Ben asked as he was gently caressing Viper's puffy cheeks.

“I’ll talk to you later, I have to attend to something important first and you'll still have to do more to gain my trust again, and oh sorry for constantly raising my voice on you and uhh...for the bump”

Ben hugged Viper again and smiled "It's ok, giving me this chance is enough. I promise I'll do better this time" 

Viper kissed Ben one more time then proceeded to follow the yellow figure

“Oh Sabi- Viper?” 

“Yes?”  
  


“Thanks for the pasta too”

Viper gave a dimpled smile then tossed a vial to Ben, presumably the antidote. ‘Damn it Sabine control it, now Killjoy is pissed at you, great job’ 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously have no idea where this is heading but eh, I'll still try my best :)

“Killjoy open up, I won’t tell you again” Pleaded Viper in a commanding tone as she was knocking on the door

She then sighed “If you let me in, I’ll let you hang out in my lab indefinitely”

The door immediately opened and a sobbing Killjoy hugged Viper 

“Why Sabine...Why?, I thought I’m the only one you love?” Killjoy sniffed while eying Viper with her moist eyes and downturned lips.

“We’ll talk inside”

Viper scanned the hallways first before locking the door and closing the blinds.

Killjoy then pulled Viper to her bed causing the latter to be on top of her, eyes fixated on each other.

“Do that again, I’ll kill you” hissed Viper sarcastically while wiping Killjoy's tears away

“Now’s not the time for that Sabine!” Killjoy whined

Killjoy then smooched Viper passionately ,Viper lost control of her stern demeanor and reciprocated the act. They were starting to intimately touch each other when Viper suddenly stopped and rolled to the other side of the bed.

“I can’t…”

“You...love me more right?”

Viper hesitantly shook her head and gave a half hearted smile

Killjoy proceeded to grab Viper’s twitching hands

“May I?”

Viper gave a nod

“Sabine, tell me...What is he to you?” Killjoy gently asked while she started massaging her lover’s hands.

Viper only mumbled inaudible words before Killjoy planted a kiss on her soft cheek

“It’s ok, we promised to be open to each other right?”

Viper looked at Killjoy’s glasses which somehow reflected her emerald eyes and swallowed first before vocalizing her thoughts.

“We used to work together...a small detachment of Airforce Pararescuemen was attached to the regiment to work alongside the conventional medics”

“One day, my unit was pinned and were captured by some terrorists while we were gathering some radianite samples. For about a week we were starved and beaten almost to death until Ben and his fellow PJs stormed the area and rescued us. I still remember that day when he slowly descended from the helicopter like an angel and carried me in his arms... ”

“You're home now girl” Viper chuckled “was the first thing he said to me as I fainted and let him take care of me”

“When ever he's free, he’d spend it at the med bay, constantly murdering my ears with those annoying cowboy songs and endless history lesson, he’s bit of a nerd like you too Maus” Viper teased

“He...was the only person I...really trusted at that time. I tried so hard to make him dislike me but he just laughs and taunts me which I personally hated but loved at the same time”

“How’d he end up with Kingdom then?”

Viper sighed and paused for a while before continuing 

“He was gaining fame in the military. He killed more people far than he had saved primarily because he was more keen on looking out for me, though he still did save other people…he never wanted to get separated from me.”

“Kingdom was building up their forces at that time and were looking for competent people and he of course was on their list.”

“I told him not to trust them but he insisted on accepting the offer...We quarreled almost every night that they had to call in the military police to separate us.”

Killjoy snuggled with Viper and started combing her jet black hair with her other hand then whispered 

“How’d you know that Kingdom couldn’t be trusted?”

“I saw their desperation. They wanted me to do my research with them and told me that they were trying to control the radianite “threat”...They were the threat, not the radianites.” Scoffed Viper

“I was also working on Omen at that time. He was a marine that Ben rescued. He told me that he wanted me to end his suffering but I asserted that radianite could probably save him and make him better”

“ Ben was very reluctant to keep it a secret. He told me that this would harm both our reputations and lives”

“He did manage to keep it in until…”

Viper clenched her fists, lightly squishing Killjoy’s fingers 

“Until he came into my lab wearing Kingdom’s uniform”

“Oh my...” Killjoy slowly whimpered

“He pleaded me to join him but I held my ground until I was forced to go into hiding ”

“Life became harder because not only was I on the run, but I had to take care of Omen until I finished my experiments on him”

“For months they tried to find me until they took my family hostage and with the help of Ben, found my location because it was one of those abandoned outposts we used to use for...hanging out, I was so stupid...Little did I know that he too was the one who suggested using my family to get me out.”

Viper let go of Killjoy’s hand then curled into the German’s breast in a fetal position and started stuttering with her words.  
  


“I had to surrender or else they’d kill them, the only people that I cared about” 

“Only people?” Killjoy questioned

Viper dug deeper into Killjoy’s breasts while constantly getting strokes on her hair. This is the first time Killjoy has seen Viper so...miserable.

“There, there Sabine. Take your time”

“I can’t deny that during my time as Kingdom’s prisoner, he still looked out for me”

“Everyday he made sure that I was fed the right amount of food and that the guards didn’t try to do anything undesirable to me.”

“Whenever he tried to speak to me I’d just ignore him. I wanted to kill him in cold blood for not only using my family but because I put so much trust and faith in him only to be betrayed for fame...this is why I hardly trust people nowadays” 

“Then why Sabine? I don’t really understand why. I really don’t want to lose you. Despite you being so hard all the time, I love you, and I’ll continue to love you until we die.”

Viper just looked at her teary eyes and inhaled a lot of air before answering the question

“We had a baby”

Killjoy could not believe the words that just came out of Viper’s mouth. She stopped stroking her hair and was completely paralyzed for a second. She doesn’t know if she felt agony or hopelessness, she was just there , frozen by the words her beloved girlfriend uttered.

Viper was tearing up again and hugged Killjoy tightly. 

“Wh-what happened to the baby?” Killjoy mumbled.

“Kingdom did so many things to my body that the little thing couldn’t survive. I felt my whole world crumble when I saw the baby come out disfigured and lifeless...I was never keen on starting a family with Ben but seeing something we've created destroyed was too much for me to handle."

Viper paused for a moment and allowed herself to recollect.

"I wasn’t able to tell Ben because that night, one of their officers and a handful of soldiers turned on their fellow comrades and broke me free...as for Omen...I don’t really know what happened to him, he’s just here and in his current form.”

“I never got a word from my parents too after that. Everything...everything I loved and worked for was gone, especially our baby...”

Viper’s hug got tighter as Killjoy was trying to control her constricted breath.

“I swore that night that I’d rid the world of Kingdom’s presence. They don’t want peace, all they want is power. People who joined made their choice, I don’t know how many were forced but still, they could have refused like me. I swear I’ll kill every last one no matter what it takes.” Viper fumed as she dug her nails deeper into Killjoy's body.

“Every...last...one?” Killjoy tried to say

Viper closed her eyes and sighed angrily while slowly easing her grip on Killjoy

“I’ll try to suppress my feelings for him. He’s a thing of the past now and I want to forget that and move on”

“Sabine...I don’t think you’ll really cut your ties with him. You love him, I know you do and I don't want you to stop loving him, you can love him as a friend right? I know you hate it when I get too dramatic but...Sabine, you mean everything to me...promise you won’t leave, ok?” Killjoy whimpered

Viper smiled and hugged her

“The feeling’s mutual”

Killjoy chuckled softly “I really wonder how he managed to handle your blandness”.

The two of them cuddled for a while until the halls were filled by the sound of Brimstone speaking through the multiple loudspeakers

“Attention all agents, we’ll have a brief introductory meeting at the mess hall in 4 hours, please be on your best behavior, that’s all. Thank you”

“Stick with me always” Viper commanded as she pushed Killjoy's glasses up her nose

“What? You must be joking, you almost killed Jett for observing us when we were cooking the other day now-.”

Viper glared at her until she was forced to say yes even though deep inside she was melting. 

\---

“I know we kind of forced you to join but-”

“I did it for Sab-Viper” Ben pointed out.

Brimstone grinned and put a hand on smaller man’s shoulder

“Look kid, I trust you because Viper trusts you despite the history. I know you only wanted what’s best for the two of you. Well now’s your chance to prove it. Not to mention, I always loved the PJ’s motto, what was it again?”

“These things we do, that others may live” “...I shoulda never left the Air Force. I’d rather save lives right now than fight for some alien gizmo”

Brimstone grinned again and patted Ben on the back.

“You’ll be her very own PJ then...that is ,if you things out with her girlfriend"

Ben tensed up and bulged his eyes to the now frowning Brimstone . "Her what?"

"I should have not said that..."


	5. Chapter 5

“Fuck off!” snarled Viper as she threw her gun away and darted off to the base “stupid cowboy”. 

“Hey if I didn’t throw those vials of yours, you might as well died you egotistical cunt” Ben returned, while the wind blew off his newly bought cowboy hat

Phoenix picked up the hat and put it on Ben’s head “Love the new attire mate” 

“Well I gotta look the part” Ben said as he fixed the lapels of his brown denim jacket and clicked the heels of his black boots. He also wore a green scarf now that he’d use to cover his face if thing get too...toxic even though it didn’t do much

“I mean c’mon, y’all dress funny too. You look like your straight outta hollywood or something, Sage looks like one of them monks, and Reyna looks like a freakin' whor-”

Cold Arms then wrapped behind the two men and spoke in her thick Mexican accent “A what, cariño (darling)?” 

“Uhh, nothing. I said you’re charming” was the immediate reply of the Texan

“Aww how sweet. Tell me ,what pissed our precious little scientist again?”

Ben picked up the gun Viper threw and walked alongside Phoenix and Reyna 

“I was only trying to give her advice then she got all cocky again and told me to stay back but of course I didn’t. You know how she brags to y’all that she has enough poison for fifty people? Well damn, that orb of hers wouldn’t even last a minute cause if I didn’t throw her acid thingies at the corridor, she might have bit the dust before her girlfriend could kiss her again!” Ben exclaimed. Reyna and Phoenix just looked at each other then laughed.

As soon as they got inside the base, An angry dad-like Brimstone with his arms crossed met Ben.

“In my office, now”

Ben sighed “Can I at least-”

“Now!”

“Whatever you say boss”

Ben bid farewell and gave his Bucky and Viper’s Phantom to the two before accompanying Brimstone to his office. 

Brimstone’s office was relatively small. It had a beautiful view of the outside but other than that, it’s just filled with some old photos from when he was still in the army, not to mention cabinets and drawers full of dossiers. Brimstone asked Ben to sit on the chair next to Viper. Viper gave a scowl first before facing the other direction, the sunset from the view made her eyes glint.

“You know back in Texas we had-”

Viper cut him mid sentence “I don’t care”

Before Ben could add something, Brimstone spoke up

“Ladies first, Viper what happened?”

“This idiot doesn’t know what stealth means. He brought a fucking shotgun instead of a suppressed weapon”

“Hey I brought a ghost, I told you I’d only use the bucky when I needed to...which I indeed needed to”

Brimstone closed his eyes and pinched his nose before speaking again

“I’m not even gonna ask why you brought a bucky...why then did you have to use it?”

Ben removed his hat first and dusted it causing some of the particles to fly towards Viper which made her punch him on the shoulder

“Behave you two!”

“Well...someone here was about to get pinned down until I caused some noise and drew the attention to me...which alerted the whole base and yeah...it was basically my fault but hey we did get the info we came for”

Viper stood up, grabbed Ben’s collar and growled in her low voice

“You almost got me killed idiot”

Ben darted glances first then replied

“No...I made sure you’d get what we need while I play hero...that’s my job ain’t it?”

Viper was so furious but chose to let go of him and returned to her seat while brushing her short hair.

“I’ll let the two of you sort your personal crap together but for now, what did you find?”

Viper grabbed the folder she was sitting on and put it on Brimstone’s desk

“Kingdom is setting up some sort of research facility north in the Russian tundra. Says there too that they found an ancient Japanese ship that contained a samurai’s armor-”

“Wait, ancient Japanese ship? In the Russian tundra? Not to mention samurais...y’all know they’re long gone right?” 

Viper unamused by the interruption glared at Ben 

“Yes I know smart ass...Anyways, what makes this intriguing is that they reported Radianite activity in the area. We scientists agree that time travel is impossible but this phenomena is just so unpredictable it may be plausible”

Brimstone scratched his beard and observed the setting sun before replying

“We’ll secure that base. We can’t let Kingdom get whatever is hidden there...might be another radiant for all we know. A week or so of preparations should suffice”

“And can you two stop acting like children when on the field. I get multiple reports from our pilots and soldiers about your endless fights before, during, and after missions. If this continues I’ll have to move Ben somewhere else.”

“NO!” Viper shouted which caused both men to recoil. She then lost her composure and averted her gaze to the ground

“Uhm...we’ll make it work, see ya around boss” Ben tipped his hat and tapped Viper on the shoulder signaling her to follow him.

The two of them stared at each until Ben lost the competition and spoke.

“How’s your uhh…”

“That’s none of your concern but she’s fine”

Ben can’t help but fix the loose strand dangling from Viper’s hair when she dipped her head earlier. 

“Your new outfit doesn’t really help” Viper joked

“Oh really?”

“Really”

They both chuckled until Ben changed his mood

“Vipes...I wish you could have told me earlier.” Ben mumbled, his hat now covering his eyes

“It’s not that easy to accept change ya know?”

“We’ve been through this...I don’t wanna start another argument about this topic again.”

Viper then fixed Ben’s hat and gave him a light slap on his cheek

“Come, I have something for you” 

“A gift for me? You still love me” Ben grinned

Viper rolled her eyes and gestured him to follow her to her lab. The walk down the base was pretty much quiet. Numerous icy stares from the soldiers still greeted Ben in which he exchanged with smiles and nods.

As Viper was inputting the password on her lab Ben couldn’t help but comment on how tight her outfit is.

“Vipes don’t you think your outfit is a uhm...shaping your buns too much?”

Viper went red as a tomato but didn’t turn around to show it

“Say that again, I’ll drown you in acid”

Ben chuckled “Hey, I was just looking out for you. You’re asking to be violated”

Viper didn’t bother to reply as the door slid open and a sleeping Killjoy was seen on her desk. 

“Lemme guess you want me to sit here while I watch you two have coitus”

Viper shot him a menacing glare which he too returned

“Pfft, whatever...now what was it you were gonna give to me?”

Viper made sure that she wouldn’t startle the drooling person on her desk as she opened one of the drawers and grabbed the device.

Viper then clipped some sort of robotic arm gauntlet on Ben’s right forearm. He immediately recognized it as the same gauntlet Viper uses to launch her acid vials and toxic screen.

“You’ve seen how it works, press the button on your palm so that you can insert the vial. Press again to launch it. Then for the screen…” 

She then stroked his forearm “Just stroke them gently and press the same button, only one shot so make it count”

Ben was about to hug her but she moved away just in time

“So, do I get your orbs too? Make sure it has enough gas this time”

“No...I’ve been working on something else”

Viper then walked to her work station and grabbed three yellow glowing grenades and handed them to Ben

“These toxic grenades emit a more toxic form of gas than off my orbs. They also don’t ball up, instead spread like air would. Be cautious though because the chemicals I used are so toxic that even my mask couldn’t filter the toxins out.

“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” Ben said as he played with the grenades

“Go on now, I’ve got things to do”

“I find that hard to believe”

Viper glanced at Killjoy then back at Ben 

“See what I mean? You jus-”

She then tugged Ben’s scarf and gave him a peck on the cheek

“Now fuck off or that’s the last time you’ll be getting that”

Though happy with the little act Ben only gave a tepid smile and mumbled

“One day ,you gotta choose...either way I’ll still love you” 

He then gave her a peck too and left. 

When the door closed, Viper rested her head on it and banged it for a couple of times until she heard a faint voice behind her

“Sabine…”

“I permitted you to stay here but I didn’t permit you to drool on my table”

Killjoy started humming then soon words were coming out of her mouth

“Oh my darlin, Oh my darlin, Oh my darlin Sa-abine, you were lost and gone forever dreadful sorry Sa-abine”

Viper put a hand on her forehead and nodded in disappointment 

“First of all you can’t sing, Second aren’t you and Ben...somewhat in bad terms?”

“That’s what you think, he’s actually a pretty cool guy” Killjoy yawned.

“Hmm? Why’s that?”

“When you two aren’t together, we’d always have a drink. I told him that Germans can tolerate beer more than Texans, he of course jeered at that and challenged me to it. Every time he’d get drunk he’d sing those songs and tell countless tails I’ve never heard before.”

“Tales such as?” Viper asked as she paced around her lab.

“Well, one's quite sweet actually. There was this uhh, miner who had uhm...recently married a woman. One day, the soldier- I mean miner took his wife to a cliff”

“Miner huh?” Viper questioned as she was examining her test tubes

Killjoy clearly stuttering with her words “Ye-yeah. Then he asked his wife what else he could do for her… The wife said “If you love me jump off this cliff”. 

She then bit her lip and sighed romantically

“...The miner then without a doubt, stepped on the ledge, stretched his arms while facing the sunset and gave a nod to his wife...the wife then joyfully hugged him and told him how much she loves him...”

Viper put the tube back in the rack and turned to face Killjoy.

“Your version is a little bit too much. We’re never married, and I never “joyfully” hugged him, I hugged him cause I thought he was actually gonna jump, I got so worried that I punched him so hard on the gut that he vomited his lunch”

Killjoy's smile then transitioned into a sullen look as she played with the pen on Viper’s desk.

“That’s even more sweet. You really care for him, you don’t want him out of your life.”

“Maus don’t-” before she could finish it, she was interjected by the only person in the room

“You know...I can’t help but fall in love with how he loves you”

Viper crossed her arms and approached Killjoy “Don’t be ridiculous”

“I’m not”

“You two always act like a couple. Arguments here, arguments there but at the end of the day you still kiss each other goodnight and sleep in peace. We may sleep together mein liebe (my love) but I know every part of you wants to be cocooned in his embrace.”

“He just insists on keeping our tradition of kissing each other goodnight but there’s hardly anything between us now” 

Killjoy dropped the pen, removed her glasses and dipped her head on the desk

“You know it really made me smile when I saw you in his arms after one mission. You probably won’t remember because you were out cold. We were about to leave you behind because the mission went bust. I begged the pilot to turn around but he wouldn’t. Ben at an instant rappelled down the helicopter despite it moving to rescue you. He luckily found you and walked all the way from where he found you back to base. I saw him limping into base like a zombie and on his weary arms...you”

A hand then was massaging her head as she continued the story

“He collapsed as soon as he got an inch inside the gate, his grip on you was so firm that we had to call Brimstone to break the hold. You were carried first to the med bay and I saw him try to reach out to you but ultimately failed because of how weak he was. His eyes...his eyes were fixated at you the whole time, making sure that you were treated first before him”

"I stood there ,felt sorry for a person who did everything for someone he truly values"

“You were mostly fine but Ben...Ben suffered multiple injuries and was so exhausted that we had to let him die so that Sage could revive him”

Viper stopped massaging her head and knelt beside Killjoy

“He...died?”

“Yes Sabine, he died so that you may live” Killjoy sobbed as she lifted her head and showed teary red eyes.

“Ho-How come he never told me?” Viper stammered

Killjoy chuckled “Cause of me. He told me that if he’d tell you what happened, your feelings for me would go poof…” Killjoy’s eyes started to leak as she played with the pen again. 

“He told me that he wants this fight for you to be fair, that regardless if he gets you or not, he’ll still take care of you no matter the cost...he loves you so much Sabine...I feel like a criminal for trying to take you away from him…”

Viper then put a finger on Killjoy’s lips until she removed it and kissed her deeply. 

“Please stop...I’m trying my best to win this fight for you Maus. Yes I love him from the bottom of my heart but it’s over between us, he can take care of me all he wants but you’re the one I want to take care of now.”

“YOU STOP IT SABINE!” Killjoy slammed the pen she was playing with, breaking it to pieces. “Why can't you love him back? I know you had a rough history but can’t you see he’s doing everything to make that up to you ?!?!?” “How cruel can you be Sabine that you toy with both our emotions??? It’s not fair for me and certainly isn’t fair for him neither! You’re...you’re such a monster”

Viper was showing a mix of emotions. Her forehead wrinkled, her emerald eyes enraged but at the same time teary and her teeth were gnashing. She stood up without saying a word opened the lab door and found Ben standing in front of it with his jaw dropped and eyes protruding. She then bumped him with brute force and went her way while wiping the tears and mucus she was producing. 

Ben thought to himself that it was best to leave her be for now and help Killjoy instead

He then patted Killjoy’s back and slid her glasses back on “Wanna grab a beer schwester (sister)?”

Killjoy smiled and followed him outside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Oh my darlin Clementine" is the title of the song KJ was singing if y'all are wondering. Sorry if there are some grammatical or typo errors, it's 3 am :)


	6. Chapter 6

“Ahh crap I missed again!” Ben exclaimed as he failed to land one of the acid vials on the target area.

He reached for his satchel but found it empty, only the three grenades were inside. 

“Well I guess that’s that, sure do hope the next batch would be earlier this time.”

“How do you even get them? We haven’t seen her for three days now, I’m really worried” Killjoy asked while she was tinkering with her bots.

“She just leaves a rack of it outside her lab” 

Smoke was then coming out of Killjoy’s bots “ Scheiße! (shit) ” It popped causing it to emit black fumes and cover her face with it.

Ben laughed so hard before handing her a towel so that she could wipe her face.

“ I might have...a problem here”

Still recovering from the outburst of joy Ben spoke with a wide grin on his mouth “Bless your heart little engineer” despite Killjoy being taller than him

“Could you move some of the test dummies in front of the range, I wanna test something”

Ben did as he was told and placed 3 dummies in a V formation and returned to Killjoy

Killjoy then activated her turret and it worked fine until she moved about 40 meters away when the turret dipped its head and stopped shooting. She then moved a little bit closer and it started shooting again. 

“Yup, I’ve done it. I’ve made the range detector go kaput, I wonder if it’s the same with the alarm bot” Killjoy pondered as she looked at Ben

Ben sighed at the sign and removed his jacket first, revealing his flannel which he changes everyday. Today he’s wearing blue. 

“Alright let’s get er done”

“Danke mein freund” (Thanks my friend)

She then asked Ben to move a little so that the bot won’t activate prematurely. When she covered about 40 meters, she waved at Ben to approach the bot

“Nothing happened” 

Killjoy then slowly approached the bot and it detonated which caused Ben to yelp

“Ahh!, I don’t feel anything hit me...but I feel so weak”

“Ja (yes), that’s the point”

“So what seems to be the problem?”

“My bracelet needs to be in range for them to work now...I don’t know if I’ll be able to fix them before our mission” Killjoy answered as she swiped through her tech.

“You did claim to be a genius…” Ben smirked 

Killjoy returned the smirk “Easier said than done cowboy”

“Well, I’m famished let’s go grab lunch”

Ben picked up his jacket and joined Killjoy outside the range.

“Wait...isn’t it Sabine’s turn to cook today?” 

“Is it? So that’s why breakfast was so hearty today” Killjoy said with a smile on her face

“I do hope she makes pasta for lunch, it’s one of the things I asked her to perfect cause I just love pasta so much.”

“You like sour food huh?, Have you tried Sauerkraut?”

“Oh you mean Liberty Cabbage? There was this time when Americans refused to eat German food because of the events of the first world war. Since Sauerkraut is obviously German, they changed it to Liberty Cabbage” Ben teased

Killjoy giggled “Not many people appreciate history, you’re rare brudi (bro)”

“And oh yeah just a thought, I like how you’re Texan and Sabine is Alaskan”

Ben quirked his eyebrow “Hmm?”

“You’re warm, pretty relaxed...but committed and assertive at the same time, Sabine...Sabine is cold, self-reliant, separated from the pack, but is still part of the big family...opposites attract, am I right?”

Ben noticed that Killjoy was starting to frown as she dipped her head and put her hands inside her jacket’s pockets.

“What’s this? The United States of VALORANT?” he joked as he bumped his shoulder with hers.

Ben pulled the door to the mess hall and was greeted by a poker faced Viper with her arms crossed. She glanced at the two of them, especially at Killjoy who was towering in front of her. Killjoy couldn’t look at her eyes but she could tell that Viper is still angry for the things she said.

“Food’s cold” was her only response as she passed through both of them, the clicking of her heels echoing through the halls made it all the more frightening. Ben couldn’t deny though how much he liked Viper in her lab outfit as he watched her get smaller and smaller down the hall.

Killjoy entered the mess hall and Ben followed suit. Ben was delighted to see the usual tomato pasta Viper made for him alongside with some other meals. All of the agents were still eating their meals except for Viper who had left and Omen who was no where to be found, does he even eat?

“Look, that must be the new agent y’all be working with” Ben pointed out as a beefy ginger head was showing off some sort of bird to the rest of the agents

“I’m not in the mood, let’s go sit somewhere else”

They chose a seat not too far from all the fuss but quiet enough so that they could talk.

“She really does care for you” Killjoy commented as Ben slurped a spaghetti. 

“Oh don’t be like that, she’s just a talented cook. Chemistry and Cooking are quite similar if you look at it.”

“Yeah...I guess so.”

Ben dropped his fork and reached for something inside his jacket

“Gimme your hand”

“What?”

“Just give it”

Killjoy hesitantly put her hand on top of Ben’s palm.

He then scanned the area before placing something cold in Killjoy’s hands and wrapped them

“I want you to give her this.”

She then slowly opened her fingers and saw an small round emerald chained to a silver necklace

“I’ve been wanting to give her that but never really found the perfect time”

Killjoy then looked at him with her mouth half open 

“I just feel like...I won’t be around her anytime now...heck I’m not even supposed to be here, I ain’t one of you agents...I’m just her glorified assistant”

Ben gulped some water before continuing.

“I don’t wanna give up on her, I really don’t want to but...I reckon it’s impossible to make her really love me again. Sure we kiss and hug each other from time to time but she hasn’t truly forgiven me. There’s still that barrier between us that I still can’t tear down...and of course there's you…”

Killjoy placed the necklace near Ben’s plate. He then pushed it back.

“Ben listen to me. You’re her boyfriend, You’re her guardian and most of all...You were supposed to be the father of her child”

Ben choked on the water he was drinking “Excuse me?”

“It should be her telling you this but...you and Sabine...had a child”

Ben laughed at first but he could see that Killjoy was being serious. 

“You’re joking right? See here, we’ve never even slept together ,but...I did have a dream that we did it...it felt so real but she convinced me it was just a dream…”

Killjoy smiled and placed the necklace on Ben’s palm the same way he did earlier.

“No ,that was no dream...”

“Di-Did she abort the baby?”

“Oh no no, she told me that that little creature you two made meant so much to her...Your baby was killed because of the brutal things Kingdom did to Sabine…”

The hall fell silent as all of the other agents listened to the dreadful story

“She never told me...” Ben said as he firmly grasped the necklace

“She never had the chance, that was the night-”

“We broke her out” Brimstone chimed in as put a spoonful of pork in his mouth.

“She wanted to go back for you but I insisted that you were already the enemy. I saw you gun down most of my men and I wanted nothing more than to kill you myself but when Viper brought you in and told me that she wanted you for interrogation, I knew she was lying. She just wanted to be with you.” Brimstone traced the shape of his plate with his fork causing screeching noise occasionally

“I can see through every act she plays when she tries to convince you that she doesn’t have feelings for you...she does boy and she’ll never get over it. You’re lucky that she’s vital for our cause. If she hadn’t had that brain of hers, I’d slit your throat the moment I saw you being transported in that plane”

He then stopped his hand movement and looked at Ben dead in the eye

“But I really trust you know. You’ve proven yourself to us. I tried to find out if you’d only protect Viper but I see that you're a selfless man yourself.”

“Yeah bruv, you’re one of us now!” Phoenix happily exclaimed as the other agents nodded in approval, The ginger head was obviously oblivious to what's going on but still smiled and raised a cup for Ben.

“Don’t be silly y’all. Y’all know I’m just like every other soldier here.”

“But you can lead, you can look out for people, and most of all you can fight for the things you love no matter the cost, We’re your family now son ain’t we?”

Ben grinned “I reckon” 

“Plus, I see your little lover gave you an exact carbon copy of her device. So, what’ll we call you then?”

“Oh come on, that ain’t necessary” 

“Sorry son, it’s protocol”

Ben pondered for a while until he glanced at Killjoy and got an idea

“PJ”

Brimstone and the others seem to be puzzled by the choice and asked why

“A bit awkward don’t you think if we call you “Para-Jumper” ”

“Nah, just PJ, if someone asks why...well cause I said so, no further explanation needed”

“PJ and KJ, huh?

“Ehh...I mean besides Vipes, she’s someone who I could definitely hang my hat on” Ben assured as he patted Killjoy’s shoulder

“Well I’m glad you too have built that kind of relationship, now why don’t we all see what you’ve got?”

Brimstone stood up and announced that there would be a simulation at 1930 hours to test both Ben and the new girl’s capabilities in battle

“Make sure to beef up during dinner, the agents to be selected will be announced later.” 

“I'm pretty sure y'all have seen my other rodeos?” Ben boasted as he fixed his hat

“I know” as he in turn fixed his red beret 

  
  


\---Timeskip---

  
  
  


Ben extended his arm to ginger head lying down 

“Good game Skye”

“You too mate” She roughly said with her Australian accent as she massaged her aching back

“Nice shooting by the way” 

Ben flipped the Marshall he was wielding using his fingers, at the same time cocking a rubber bullet inside

“Yep, its like shooting one of our Winchesters back home. I reckon I’ll ever use the scope, I prefer the iron sights plus it allows me to rapid fire from the hip by constantly cocking the gun”

“Bleedin’ right mate, you’re really one heck of a cowboy”

A few more chatter could be heard inside the area until Brimstone who apparently looked very exhausted dismissed all the agents present in the simulation room.

Ben as usual waited for Killjoy to pack up before heading out to their dorms.

“I’ll uhh...check on Vipes” 

Ben hesitantly said which made Killjoy giggle a little

“I love the nickname you gave her and you don’t need to be afraid to mention her around me, I want her to be with you P...”

Ben noticed the change in tone so he pushed her glasses up her nose and grabbed some of her stuff. 

“Come, I’ll accompany you to your room K”

The stroll was pretty much quite as most of the soldiers were in their rooms except for the patrolmen keeping vigil.

“Well, here you are, I’ll see you tomorrow K” Ben tapped her shoulder but before he could turn Killjoy leapt and hugged him

“Thank you so much for being a good friend despite all these crazy scheiße about Sabine”

“Thanks too ,K...for understanding”

They then broke the hug. Ben tipped his hat while Killjoy waved goodbye

As Ben was approaching Viper’s lab he noticed the lights were still on. ‘Sabine, you’re gonna kill yourself ’ he thought to himself

He knocked a few times but had no response so he opened the door using the passcode Viper gave him and to his surprise, found Viper on her desk...out cold. 

“Well, well ,well, what’d I told you Ben, I told you she’s gonna kill herself”

He then tried to wake her up but to no avail.

‘Damn how many cans of energy drink has she been drinking’ Ben pondered as he saw the heaps of energy drink cans scattered on her desk and in the trash can

“Well, looks like I gotta carry you”

He then slowly removed her lab coat, showing off the elegant turtle neck he always admired her wearing and put her on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her light warm breaths on his neck soothed whatever pain he felt from the simulation earlier.

As he was walking down the hall he spotted Phoenix and Jett still chatting. He tried his best to not get noticed but Viper’s left heel fell off causing the two to turn to his direction. Phoenix winked and gave a thumbs up while Jett covered her giggle, Ben just rolled his eyes but smirked. 

When he reached her dorm, he settled her down on her bed and gave her a little kiss on the forehead.

“Goodnight little snake” 

But before Ben could leave her bed, a hand prevented clasped his wrist . 

“Stay…” Viper muttered

Ben brushed her hair and joked “Last time I stayed, I got you preggers...and you lied to me”

“Killjoy tell you this?”

“Yeah…”

She sighed heavily and tugged Ben's jacket, slamming him to her breasts. 

“Please just for tonight...I feel so lonely” the moonlight shining through the window made her pleading eyes sparkles as she removed Ben’s hat and gave the top of his head a kiss

“Good job, you’ve just kissed sweat”

Viper chuckled and rubbed her face on Ben’s slick hair

“We’re both dirty”

“I love you” Ben murmured 

She paused for a while then rubbed her nose this time on his nose

Ben smiled and rested his head on her breasts while she on his head, legs intertwined and arms wrapped around each other.

“I love you too” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never planned Ben and KJ to be friends but ehh...I feel a little kind this week


	7. Chapter 7

….It’s alright…..

….No don’t you dare…..

….Please….go…..

….no…..

….GO!....

….NO!....

….GET UP!….

  
  


“Get up, get up, GET. UP.” Viper commanded as she tried to pry Ben from her breasts

“Oh sorry I thought I was still dreaming” He replied as he stretched and gave Viper a kiss on the cheek. 

“We better freshen up, this is our last day of preparations. I’ll see you at the mess hall” Their lips pressed again before Ben left for his dorm.

‘Darn what was that dream?’

‘Ahh crap, it’s just a dream anyway’ 

“Good morning sir” a group of soldiers saluted him while he was fixing his hat and jacket.

“Sir?” 

“Affirmative. Commander Brimstone has appointed you as Captain of our platoon.” 

Ben gazed at their eyes first before speaking

“Is this all?”

“Negative. 44 soldiers all battle ready”

Ben nodded and patted the soldier’s soldier despite the soldier being taller than him

“Y’all trust me now do you?”

“Sir...I personally helped you when you rescued Agent Viper that night, I see how you’d sacrifice yourself for people you love and I thought to myself that that’s definitely someone I’d want to serve under. We might be mercenaries like Kingdom sir but I believe we’re all fighting for a good cause and we need someone who could go that extra mile to help us win.

“Well that’s good to hear, I’ll brief you boys when I receive my orders from Brimstone”

Ben saluted them and went to his dorm but was halted by the soldier

“Sir one more thing”

The soldier gave Ben a sleek grayish military style outfit with red stripes running down from the shoulders to the ankles. It also bore the VALORANT logo on the shoulders and upper left chest. He was also given a pair of sturdy leather boots and gloves that matched the soldier’s outfits.

“I love how VALORANT’s uniform is somewhat the opposite of what we wear in Kingdom. We had the same pattern except that the uniform is white and these red stripes are gold”

“Of course sir”

Ben took a shower and wore the uniform that was given to him. He loved how the uniform also had a leatherneck similar to the U.S. Marines’ dress blues which made the soldiers look sharp. He did keep his scarf and cowboy hat on making him stand out from the rest. ‘Damn it’s nice to be in uniform again’

He made his way to the mess hall and opened its doors like a cowboy would in a saloon.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you Captain Beno- Benua- BEN! Martinez” Brimstone announced as once the icy stares he received before was now replaced by the warm air of claps and cheers.

Ben put his hands on hips and joked “Well that’s certainly fast. I’ve stayed here for like a month or so and y’all treat me a like a war hero”

Various laughs erupted while Ben waved them off and went to get some food. ‘Burritos, Quesadillas, and chili con carne huh?, I bet Reyna is in charge today’

Ben made his way to where the agents were eating and saw that Viper was still not there so he took the seat next to Killjoy

“Morning K”

“Moin moin (Good morning) P” 

“Fixed your bots yet?”

“Nein (no), I need more time to revert this problem”

Reyna who was in front of Ben spoke to him.

“So, how do you like the comida (food)?”

“Esta delicioso señorita (It’s delicious ma’am)” Ben answered as he narrowed his eyes seductively at Reyna.

“P, how many languages do you know?” Killjoy questioned

“Well I’m not exactly fluent in any language besides English but I study the basics of some languages cuz it’s a hobby of mine to sing too in other languages ”

“Can you sing something in Russian my friend?” Sova interjected 

“Da (yes)”

Ben cleared his voice and sang the Russian folk song “Katyusha” 

He still had the southern twang but nonetheless his Russian accent was ok.

Brimstone and Sage who were a bit more distanced to the ongoing concert, conversed while everyone was fixated on the singing.

“Do you really trust him Brimstone?” Sage asked as she watched him sing

Brimstone took a bite of his big burrito and wiped his mouth first then answered. 

“He’s a good soldier, one of the best ones out there actually…”

“What makes you say that?”

Brimstone glanced at Ben first before answering Sage.

“When we interviewed him I had Cypher attach small microphones in his undershirts so that I could keep track on him...Not once did I hear him speak ill of our organization and every time he accompanied Viper with her personal missions, he'd put the mission first regardless if Viper could get hurt of not”

“Though he is really committed to protecting that girlfriend of his but what really fascinates me is that he also protects her...interests...Our young engineer for example. Like a soldier is loyal to his commander, Ben is loyal to us because he’s first and for most loyal to Viper”

“What if Viper turns?”

Brimstone chuckled

“She won’t, her heart is filled with hatred for Kingdom. There’s no way she’ll turn but if she does…I won’t actually get mad if Ben does as well. The only time Ben would go against her is when it comes to morals but other than that, he’s ultra loyal to her and I totally understand that.”

Viper suddenly popped out of nowhere as she took her seat across Brimstone. Her eyes were still baggy, sleep was never her friend but at least last night she got some well deserved sleep.

“Oh good morning Viper” Sage happily greeted 

Viper only gave a half-hearted smile and a nod before digging in to her meal

“What’s on the agenda?, I have enough toxins for a whole base this time if that’s what you’re wondering”

Brimstone burped and put down his burrito before speaking 

“After some further considerations, I’ve decided to call it off this weekend and move it to Monday instead. Word is, that the soldiers stationed right now at the base will be replaced by fresh recruits on Monday so I’m thinking we’ll take that chance to attack them when they’re weak”

“To be honest, I could use some rest so thanks for moving it I guess” Viper answered

“So Viper, could you possibly tell us more about your boyfriend...no point on keeping them a secret if he eventually narrates them one by one” Sage joked

Viper glanced at her first but surprisingly spoke

“I’m still having mixed feelings about him. I want to forgive him for what he’s done but...but being betrayed by someone you love is something really hard to swallow...but I deeply love him”

“After all this time you still haven’t forgiven him?” Sage asked as she was combing her long hair

“I want to but…”

“But Killjoy makes deciding harder?” Brimstone finished

Viper looked at him then back to her food. Thankfully someone requested Ben to sing another song putting all the attention to him rather than Viper and the two people she was conversing with.

“I don’t really understand why he’s so kind to Killjoy. Like to the point of being best friends”

“Though...he does treat everyone he meets fairly, including the enemies he rescued back then”

“When I asked him why he always seemed so passive he told me that he always modeled himself to Julius Caesar, a Roman senator back then who treated his troops and enemies fairly.” 

“Have you ever seen him mad?” asked Sage

“Well he always looks mad every time we argue but I know deep inside he’s just laughing at every argument I make which annoys me a lot...but to get mad, I think he never really did. He likes raising his voice and being in command like most of the time but I can tell that it’s normal for him to be like that...he doesn’t need to force it, it’s just that natural for him...really makes me wonder why he chose the air force over the marines or army.” 

Viper put her arm on the table and rested her cheeks on her hand while she looked at Ben with slightly narrowed eyes coupled with a lopsided grin.

“I never thought we’d meet again after what had happened...I was ready to remove him from my life and move on with Killjoy but...well here he is...I’m happy that he’s with me again but...Killjoy, my little maus...I”

“I was about to propose to her…”

She made swirls on her chili con carne as Sage and Brimstone was taken aback by the statement.

“It’s really nice we’re seeing this side of you Viper, you do have a heart after all” Brimstone joked as Sage pinched him making him laugh because it had no effect on his beefy shoulders.

Viper just glanced at him and returned her gaze on the swirls she was making. 

“I suggest then that you use these couple of days to fix your priorities. One has to go Viper, you know that. I fear that if you contemplate on this too much it will affect your performance both on the field and in your office.”

Viper didn’t say a word and instead listened to Ben singing in his subtle country voice that would be more fitting around a campfire

“ Country roads, take me home

To the place I belong

West Virginia, mountain mama

Take me home, country roads

Take me home, down country roads”

Ben smiled at Viper which she returned with a smile too before finishing the song

“Take me home, down country roads”

The people inside the mess hall applauded him while Viper gave him a wink, the first time she actually did which surprised Ben a lot. When the agents and soldiers settled down, Brimstone stood up, cracked his back and cleared his voice as he made his way to the center of the hall. 

“Wonderful performance Captain. Now as you all know we we have a mission tomorrow...there’s a change in plan-”

Ben was drinking some water when Breach’s cold robotic fingers tapped him and whispered

“Your girl wants to talk to you"

“You just want the rest of my burrito don’t you?”

“Yes and she really did ask me to call you”

Ben looked at Viper and true enough, she was staring at him

“You owe me one you viking”

“Tack tack (thanks, thanks)”

Breach then grabbed Ben’s plate and wolfed his meal, greasing his prosthetic hands.

Killjoy felt Ben stood up and tried her best not to notice. 

“What is it honey?”

Viper glared at him which caused Sage to giggle before answering 

“Listen ugh...I know it’s weird that I’m the one asking you this...but ugh...do you wanna...probably...uhm…”

Ben lowered his head and a grin started to form on his face as Viper was trying so hard to vocalize her thoughts.

“Go out?”

Eyes wide open Ben answered

“After all we’ve been through, just now?”

Annoyed, Viper crossed her arms “Well do you want to go out or not? I’ve set aside my research for this” 

“Of course I do honey-”

Viper then tugged his scarf and shot him a scowl, her eyelashes were sharper than ever.

“Can you not call me honey in public???”

“Aww you two are so sweet” commented Sage. Some of the other agents were also watching the “romantic” act and as usual, Viper gave them glares which signaled them to piss off.

“I gotta tell K first”

Viper released him but said “I prefer if you’d not”

“C’mon Vipes, me and K are thick as pudding now, and plus this is just a date...I ain’t claiming you yet” Ben winked.

“Whatever” Viper sighed

Ben then went back to his seat but before he could speak Killjoy beat him to it.

“Going out with Vipes?”

“Yeah”

“Just bring me home some Budweiser” Killjoy grinned

Ben bumped her shoulder

“You do know that’s American right?”

“Any beer would do at this point...”

“Hey listen here, why don’t you take her out tomorrow? I promised I’ll play this fair right?”

Killjoy looked at his tight-lipped smile “Ben just take her...bitte (please), consider it a token of our friendship”

Ben then wrapped his arm around her which made her blush a bit. 

“Look for all I know she’s staring at us right now”

They both turned to Viper’s direction and sure enough she was leering at them menacingly as she was drinking her glass of apple juice.

“Hmm...why don’t we hang out instead?”

Killjoy quirked her eyebrow “Oh come on, we already hang out when we drink, just go spend time with her, I’ll be fine trust me”

“That’s the point, I get drunk then I don’t know what I say 50 - 60 - actually no, 70 percent ? oh whatever. Point is we rarely have time to just sit down and talk without me getting drunk.”

“Are you really serious about this P?”

“Going two time huh PJ?” Phoenix quipped

“I assume you never had friends before fire boy?”

“Not this close, especially with women”

Ben laughed “Then I’m terribly sorry for your lack of social graces my friend, Reyna can you do me a favor and give him some well deserved company”

“With pleasure” Reyna said while she wet her lips with her tongue and jerked her eyebrows up and down at Phoenix”

“Oh bloody hell Reyna…” Whined Phoenix as he tried to distance himself from the predator

They laughed as they watched the display of seduction while Brimstone wrapped up his announcements and returned to his seat to finish what he started.

“I’ll go tell Sabine”

“Fine” Killjoy sighed with with a smile

Ben approached Viper, removed his hat and took a knee.

“No”

“I ain’t proposing to you yet darling if that’s what you’re wondering”

“What is it then?”

“There might be uhm...a slight change of plan”

Viper raised an eyebrow as she took a scoop of her chili

“Can we move our date tomorrow...me and uhh, K plan to hang out too today”

She dropped her spoon and wiped her lips then turned to face Ben

“Be real Ben, what are you trying to prove?”

“Nothing, I’m just being a good friend”

She then narrowed her eyes, trying to decipher Ben’s intentions but couldn’t get anything from his dark slanted eyes. 

He then picked up her tissue and wiped the right side of her cheek

“Missed that one”

“So tomorrow, dinner time”

Viper looked away and finished her meal “Whatever, just don’t come home late”

Ben delighted with the answer kissed her on the cheek and left “Love you honey”

She raised her middle finger in response.

“There’s this Italian restaurant not far from here, I’m planning to go there unless of course you’ve got something else in mind”

“Nein, that sounds great” Killjoy responded

“I’ll meet you at the gate by 1130, that cool?”

Killjoy nodded and looked at Viper who was trying to avoid her gaze but darted glances. Killjoy felt so empty . Her relationship with the person she loves the most was starting to crumble. Could Ben have planned this all along? Ben is very creative in doing his things like how he fooled a group of Kingdom soldiers when he “turned” on Viper in a mission. Killjoy watched Ben march down the hall in his sleek outfit and kept on pondering. Is he simply just a good person?

\---Time skip---

“Mhm, this pasta is great!” Killjoy gleefully exclaimed

“Told you you’d love it”

The waiter then approached the two

“Excuse me sir, madame do you happen to be a couple? Couples enjoy 20% discount if they share the same meal”

“Oh no we aren-”

Ben then reached for Killjoy's hand “Ah yes yes, she’s my fiancé. We’re getting married in two weeks, thanks for asking brother”

Killjoy then looked at him with a puzzled face

“Wonderful, I’ll be back with your check and a little something...your fiancé though seems like she’s surprised”

“Nah, she’s just shy”

The waiter smiled and went to the kitchen

“Hey, it’s a promo, I ain’t missing out on that”

“So...uhm, where do you wanna go next?”

“There’s a park nearby, why don’t we just stroll around and talk about stuff”

“Sure thing” 

The waiter then returned with the bill and a slice of blueberry cake which Killjoy looked at with flashy eyes.

“A little something for the both of you”

“Thanks and here, a little something for you too” 

Ben tipped him 10 dollars which made the waiter smile “Better hurry up sir, your fiancé is finishing it up”

“Oh sorry, did you want some?”

“It’s fine, I’m not into cakes anyway” Ben chuckled as he watched Killjoy mow down the pastry.

“Shall we?”

Killjoy sipped some water before exiting the door Ben was holding for her

“ _Scheiße_ , it’s just 3pm but it’s so cold”

Ben then removed his scarf and wrapped it around Killjoy. Killjoy then looked at his smaller partner and hugged him

“Why do you have to be so kind?”

“Tell me a reason not to?”

“Well...Sabine?”

The cool wind rustled the trees as they entered the park which was pretty big. Couples and families alike were also strolling around the park.

“I don’t like having grudges with people. In all my years of being a soldier, I’ve never actually took killing personally. It’s just part of the job. I see this “battle” of ours just as another battle, with different stakes of course. War doesn’t decide who’s right, only who’s left so I can’t really claim that I rightfully own Sabine but...if I do manage to get her well...I get her. 

“Ben...can’t you see I’m already giving her up to you? What else do you want? Glory?”

They stopped by an equestrian statue and sat at a bench

“Maybe...but I just feel like she doesn’t want me anymore. I enjoy every kiss that we do but I don’t know...sometimes I just feel nothing.”

“But you two are so cute and cuddly all the time” 

“Yeah...I always try my best to love her...Sometimes I feel it, sometimes I don’t. My head always tells me that I love her but my heart won’t cooperate at times.”

Killjoy looked at Ben intently, she felt nothing but safety and warmth around him. ‘Is this the same thing Sabine feels when she’s around him? I wanna hug him but...fuck, keep it together KJ’

The sun was now starting to set as the sky turned orange and silhouettes from trees are now forming

“You know I always love looking at the sunset”

“Sure you do, cowboy” chuckled Killjoy as she slowly shifted herself to Ben

“Always reminded me of the good times me and Sabine had...they were all priceless”

Ben took some time to admire the view as the rays glinted off his eyes before speaking again 

“Enough about me, how bout’ you and her? You rarely told me stories about your relationship”

Killjoy inhaled the cold air first and looked at the sunset

“Well...I fell in love with her the moment my nerdy eyes fell on her. I just saw us as a perfect pair you know? We’re both geniuses and people usually pick on us for “knowing” too much”

“Oh please, you two may know more in the sciency side of things but I’m a bigger nerd than two of you combined” Ben chuckled as he removed his hat

“But you’re obviously more sociable and confident, that’s why people tend to get along with you more-”

**_“BANG”_ **

A shot then disturbed the silence as the birds from the trees flew in every direction and multiple screams could be heard

“K-”

“Ben?”

Killjoy saw him clutch his stomach as he collapsed at her lap and then rolled to the ground

“BEN!, BEN!” "Oh _Scheiße!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like the previous chapters were too short so I made this one a little bit longer, though I still think that it's short.


	8. Chapter 8

“Sergeant get these civilians to safety, the rest of you follow me, Sage take care of Ben” Brimstone commanded. The park was now littered with bodies of both civilian and military personnel, specifically that of Kingdom’s and VALORANT’s. Dusk and darkness descends as more and more Kingdom troopers pour in from almost every direction. Killjoy and Ben were obviously unarmed so all they could do was wait behind the statue, luckily Brimstone was able to send help as swiftly as possible. 

“Just hold on Ben” Killjoy herself was covered in blood as she tried to stop Ben from bleeding out. She couldn’t leave him to die, She doesn’t know what Viper might do to her if she did. Fortunately Sage arrived and walled the area off and removed Killjoy’s trembling hands off of Ben’s stomach.

“It’s alright, I’ll take care of him” Killjoy watched as Sage pulled out one of her healing orbs and let it enter Ben like a spirit would, a sigh of relief followed as the hole covered itself up. Killjoy wondered where the bullet went.

“And now our PJ needs the rescuing” Sage joked as she gently rubbed Ben’s stomach

“Can’t thank you enough Sage”

Killjoy knelt beside Ben again and hugged him tightly.

“At...this rate...I-I’m gonna die of suffocation” Ben tried to say as Killjoy released him

He then took off her glasses and wiped the blood stains from it before putting it back on and fixing her green beanie. Killjoy couldn’t control her smile and hugged him again.

A familiar robotic-like voice interrupted their hugging session.

“You two finished?”

They looked upped and saw a narrowed eyed combat ready Viper staring at them with a duffel bag slung around her. She then dropped said bag next to them.

“Pick up your stuff, there’s still a lot of them, Killjoy initiate lockdown”

Killjoy nodded ,picked up her bracelet and her lockdown “Initiated”

Ben picked up his but Viper immediately snatched from his hands one of the yellow gas grenades. Before she could pull the pin though, Ben clasped her pointy shoulders and looked at her straight in the eye

“Are you crazy?!?!, civilians are still in the area and....”

“Let. go. of. me. ” She coldly responded through her mask

“What’s wrong with you Vipes?, This ain’t the time and place to test this”

Viper ignored him and shoved him away. She pulled the pin but acid splashed in in front of her causing some of it to get to her and burn a little bit of her outfit, she yelped and looked at Ben menacingly.

“We’re pulling out of here, there’s too many of them” Brimstone cut through the comms as more and more gunfire could be heard ripping in the air.

The lockdown exploded and multiple civilians and Kingdom soldiers were petrified as the blast only affected those not registered in the lockdown’s system. Viper looked at the large group of Kingdom soldiers banded together and adjusted her throw to that area. A family who were still petrified and was near the area tried effortlessly to move away as they saw the green suited woman adjust her aim near their direction but the lockdown’s effects made it almost impossible. Seeing their impending death, the mother and father tried to get as close as possible to each other while looking at their crying baby one more time. They closed their eyes. Nothing happened. The father took a peek and saw a man tackle the woman to the pool of acid in front of her.

Viper was mostly covered in burning acid as agonizing groans and screams came out of her, luckily her combat suit was built to withstand acid thus only some of her exposed skin were lightly burned 

“What the hell?!?!?” Killjoy expressed as she saw the two roll over

“R-RUN!” Ben shouted as he slung Viper to his shoulders while getting constant curses and punches from said person

Sage helped Ben carry Viper as Killjoy followed suit. She then remembered to pack up her lockdown and went back for it. 

“K, NO!” The gas then exploded and a yellow cloud emitted from it and Killjoy was soon out of sight. Ben wasted no time and removed Viper’s mask and slung it on his neck.

“Th-That won’t s-stop it” 

“I can’t just leave her there” Ben quickly kissed Viper and put his hat on her before telling Sage to get inside one of the armored trucks. Viper tried to tug him back but her burns prevented her from doing so. 

Ben put on the mask and activated it’s headgear giving him thermal vision through its lenses. As Ben made his way inside the yellow cloud he felt his lungs burn and his breath cut short. His vision was also starting to get hazy but he still manages to stand on his two feet. ‘Damn it Sabine, why’d you have to break the Geneva convention’. Spotting Killjoy’s yellow jacket was hard as it blended with the cloud but luckily through the help of the thermal vision, Ben found Killjoy lifeless on the ground. Ben tried to pick her up but his arms and legs failed him so he had to resort to dragging her out of the cloud with all the strength he had left. They barely made it out alive when Sova and Brimstone spotted him limping and collapsing to the ground. They rushed them into the truck as quickly as possible .The Kingdom troopers broke free of the lockdown and circled around the smoke so that they could start shooting at them again. Brimstone returned fire and slammed the doors signaling the driver to punch the gas and follow the other armored truck and cars

Viper, despite suffering multiple burns, pushed Sage away and rested Ben on her lap as she removed her mask from him and threw it to the ground.

“ARE YOU STUPID?!?!?” Viper shouted

“Don’t *cough* *cough* mind…me *cough* *cough*, check K-”

“YOU’RE COUGHING BLOOD YOU DICK!!!”

“Sabine I- can’t-, can’t-” Ben struggled with his words as he choked and coughed some more blood on Viper’s rosy face. The effects of the smoke were so toxic that his eyes were also teary and bulged. He then passed out on Viper’s lap.

“Ben! Ben! You asshole! Wake up!” Viper cried out as she tried to yank Ben awake. Viper got enraged all the more as she saw Sage revive Killjoy.

“DID I TELL YOU WHO TO REVIVE?!?!?!” Exploded Viper as she grabbed the healer by the neck and pushed her with force

The driver lost control of the wheel for a second until Sova and Brimstone managed to pull her away from Sage. Killjoy regained her senses and looked at Ben’s body then at Viper who was crying while still trying to shake Ben awake .

Sage then reached for Ben’s wrist but was slapped away by Viper who shot her a vicious snarl. This didn’t stop Sage as Brimstone gave Viper a look that made her avert away.

“Viper...he’s not gone yet…*cough* he still has a pulse, we’ll make him a priority I promise”  Sage hoarsely uttered as she massaged her throat.

Killjoy was still on the floor of the truck as she couldn’t comprehend what was happening until Brimstone stood her up and helped her to a seat.

“Ben rescued you”

“Oh no…”

Killjoy tried to approach Ben but Viper yanked Ben away and gave her a look so menacing that her heart broke and started to tear up.

“This” Viper sniffed

“Is your fault…”

Killjoy was shot in the heart. Never did she make Viper this angry. She could feel the rage burn her from the inside as she stared at Viper’s crying but deeply narrowed eyes

“I-I’m sor-”

Viper then pulled out her pistol and pointed it at Killjoy which alerted everyone inside the truck

“If you dare speak again I won’t hesitate”

Movement then came from Ben as he feebly touched Viper’s hand.

“N-no-, Sab...ine”

Viper’s eyes grew and dropped the pistol making a loud clang on the truck’s metallic surface 

“Shhh, you’re gonna be alright” Viper whispered as she stroked Ben’s hair and grasped his hand firmly

“You...You’d make...a fine cowgirl” Ben commented with a small smile on his face. Viper had forgotten that she was still wearing Ben’s hat so she removed it and placed it on the ground

“In your dreams cowboy” she replied.

Ben then looked for Killjoy until he saw her crying with her head down and beanie almost covering her eyes

“K…” Ben whimpered as he reached out for Killjoy

Killjoy then grabbed his hand while Ben lightly massaged it.

“I...I’m starting to barf our meal”

Killjoy chuckled while glancing at Viper who was frowning at the other direction

“You should get some rest”

“Yeah…I think I will *cough* *cough*” Ben passed out again while still holding the two women tightly in his hands.

The ride back home was pretty quiet. Sova tried to comfort Sage from the choking that she got, Brimstone was fixing something on his bracer and Viper leaned herself on the edge of the truck so that she could rest Ben on her chest and sleep on his head. Killjoy admired the sight of Ben comfortably nestled in Viper’s arms like a baby on its mother but also felt envious and sad as she too was in the same position not so long ago. Killjoy remembered Viper’s warm hugs every time Viper had to vent on her. She remembered how soft her cheeks were and how bright her emerald eyes were. The times where she would massage Viper’s twitchy hands and times where they would just snuggle and enjoy each other’s presence. She valued every short moment she spent with her as she too never wanted Viper to be separated from her but...times change. Ben gently nudged his head which caused Viper to do the same thing. Killjoy can’t help but crack a smile. 

“You ok kid?” Brimstone asked 

“Yes…” Killjoy replied. She also pressed some buttons on Brimstone’s bracer which seemed to fix whatever Brimstone was having trouble with.

“I wish we could have more soldiers like him...he’s one of a kind”

“Yeah…” Killjoy rubbed the ends of the scarf Ben wrapped around her and used it to wipe her glasses and some of her tears. 

“I think if he had a million lives, he’d still give it up to both of you” Sova added

“No...he’d give it up to anyone of us...that’s how much of a martyr he is” Killjoy assured

“We are lucky then to have him, not only as a soldier but as a comrade”

When they got back to base, Ben was immediately rushed to the med bay where Sage and various medical personnel attended to him. Brimstone told the three remaining agents to go to the conference room and told them that he’ll tell to other agents to go there too.

The walk down the hall was dead silent as Sova stood in between the two women. Killjoy with her hands in her pocket and looking down while Viper tending to her burns. Sova opened the door for them and Viper swiftly made her way inside avoiding Killjoy’s gaze.

“I will just place my bow in the armory ladies, I’ll be back” Sova said in his Russian accent.

Viper didn’t like the idea but she wouldn’t dare ask Sova to stay because it would make her look weak, which she utterly despised.

Viper moved ten seats away from Killjoy as she crossed her legs and arms and waited for people to come. Killjoy sat quietly and took out her phone. She slowly browsed the many pictures she and Viper took together. She stopped at one picture with Viper smiling and below it was a text “To my little maus, - Love, S.”. Viper rarely smiled when taking pictures but in this one, she was very gleeful. Her eyes were crinkled, her cheeks were puffy and pink and she had a very wide grin that could make anyone smile. Killjoy put her thumb on Viper’s virtual face and admired how cute her girlfriend- ex-girlfriend is. ‘I...love you too Sabine’

“I’m sorry” Viper suddenly uttered

Killjoy flinched and could not believe that Viper actually spoke to her.

“Wh-what?”

“I’m sorry that I pointed my gun at you”

“It’s...ok Sabine, I understand how much he means to you”

Viper then stood up and sat next to Killjoy who tried to hide her phone but was stopped by her. She then grabbed her phone and leaned on Killjoy which caused Killjoy’s heart to pound rapidly 

“Oh you cunt I remember this, you’re lucky I love you”

A photo of Killjoy taking a selfie with Viper furiously chasing her down because of an experiment gone wrong was being displayed on the screen

Killjoy giggled but her heart leapt at some specific word Viper said.

“You...love me?”

Viper just smiled and kissed her cheek which numbed all the pain she was recently bearing. She could not understand why Viper still loves her but she’s happy that she still does. Nothing’s more soothing than feeling those pink lips on her cheek as she fell on Viper’s head. They continued laughing and recalling old times until Viper looked at her intently in her eyes and was about to press her lips when the door slammed open and they both recoiled to their seats, Viper “stroked” her hair and Killjoy “fixed” her glasses.

“Ok..., take a seat everyone, don’t worry this’ll be quick” Brimstone announced.

Everyone settled in their seats while Sova gave both women water to drink then sat next to Viper

“Appreciate it Sova”

“You are welcome”

Brimstone cleared his throat and stretched his back before speaking

“Ok we, we now know that Kingdom has increased their activity in this area so agents, I’ll divide you in two groups, one that will carry out the mission on Monday while the other will stay here and safeguard our base and the people of this city. I’ll personally command the garrison here, I’ll assign the raid leader later...or tomorrow”

“Now, as you all know, Captain Ben or ugh...PJ is not in a good shape right now”

“PJ huh KJ?” Viper quizzically asked Killjoy

“Well he insisted”

“The original plan was for him to lead the charge on the base and we’ll back him up with our abilities. We used his unit to rescue him and sadly, many were injured...and some were K.I.A. Though their combat effectiveness is still on point, attacking the base without them would still pose a risk.”

Cypher raised his hand which Brimstone acknowledge

“Why don’t we just use the regulars? I mean you did say we’re just dealing with raw recruits right?”

“That’s the problem, I smell something fishy going on here and after we take over the base, we need Ben’s unit to guard it.”

“Wait a minute...why don’t we just _lead_ Ben’s unit? I’m pretty sure they can handle this without their Captain”

Brimstone bowed and removed his red beret

“This unit...this unit loves Ben. They were a group of the most elite soldiers we had who pleaded to be under Ben’s direct command...It’ll be a shame of course if they’d go into their first battle without their commander...their morale right now is pretty low considering their captain’s condition so I guess they won’t perform their best if Ben doesn’t get well soon”

Viper was irked by the statement which made her stand up and speak which startled Killjoy

“This is ridiculous, if they are as elite as you claim them to be they’d still perform well despite Ben not being with them”

“Viper you must understand…” Brimstone leaned in and gazed at everyone on the room

“The unit is blaming you for what happened to Ben. Every soldier here already fears you, the last thing we’d want is a mutiny, not against us but...specifically against you.”

Numerous gasps and murmurs could be heard echoing the room but Jett assured Viper that they’ll make sure a mutiny of any sort will not happen and they’ll be there for her. Viper just nodded at her 

“I’ll lead the raid group then”

More gasps were heard as Viper stood her ground and crossed her arms

“They can’t disobey me, I’m Ben’s…” there was a hesitant pause before she answered

“Girlfriend. They try anything to me they’ll have to face their beloved leader”

Killjoy didn’t bother to react as she listened to her lover speak

Brimstone sighed “We’ll discuss this tomorrow when Ben hopefully wakes up. Dismissed”

Viper let go of her stern composure and leaned on the chair in front of her. Her grip on the chair tightened as Killjoy could hear the plastic slowly crack so she put her hand on top of Viper’s which made her ease up.

Killjoy's tummy groaned “Dinner?” 

“Sure thing lil’ maus”

Viper tipped her toes and pecked Killjoy’s lips. Despite Killjoy enjoying the little display of love, she couldn’t help but think of Ben and feel guilty for condoning Viper’s “acts” of love towards her.

\---

"How is he?" 

"Not good Agent Sage, his lungs are starting to fail and we can't seem to flush the toxins out of him"

"I don't have enough energy to give him another orb or to resurrect him"

"This is bad...if this stays for another hour...which it will I believe resurrecting him won't help as he'll still end up with the toxins inside him, call in Agent Viper please, we need her for this"

Sage touched Ben's hand and looked at his peaceful sleeping face "I'm so sorry Ben"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My eyes and back hurt


	9. Chapter 9

‘Verdammt Ben, why’d you have to go back for me?’ Killjoy was waiting patiently outside the medbay as Viper, Sage ,and the other medical professionals discussed Ben’s fatal condition. Killjoy removed the scarf Ben wrapped around him and folded it neatly. Her insides crunched up as she held herself accountable for what had happened. The feeling of guilt and shame engulfed her making her tear up and hug the scarf, soaking whatever tear she produced. As she was drenching the cloth, she couldn’t help but appreciate the honey-like aroma it gave, cracking a smile from her. The door then opened and she swiftly set down the scarf and dipped her head as if nothing happened.

“Ho-How is he?” She stammered

Viper sat down and clasped her hands together while spinning her thumbs slowly like a ferris wheel 

“Not good…”

“Turns out, having a system that can withstand a lot of pain can also be bad”

“What do you mean?”

Viper glanced at Killjoy then back at her thumbs

“You died almost instantly meaning your respiratory system did not intake any more of the toxins. What little toxin left in you was wiped clean when Sage revived you but as for Ben...his body just sucked in the toxins...literally that he would have to be cremated or buried away from the populace if he ever dies...which he wi-will.

“Can’t Sage revive him?” 

“She can...but the chemicals will still be there and he’ll just suffer even more”

“Sabine...there must be a way” Killjoy’s grip on the scarf tightened by the minute

“There isn’t, I don’t want to hook him on a lifeline for the rest of his life” Viper tensed upped and hugged herself tightly

“Th-that’s too much for me to handle. I-I don’t want to see my Ben cling to life e-every second of his life because of what I’ve done” 

Killjoy could feel Viper’s misery as tears started to leak from her green eyes down her rosy cheeks. Killjoy then unfolded the scarf and wrapped it around both of them which made Viper smile and lean on her.

Soldiers presumably under Ben walked past them giving Viper glares and snarls which she couldn’t return, instead furrowed herself underneath the scarf to avoid their gazes. 

“Just don’t mind them they can’t hurt you, Ben won’t let that happen...and me”

Viper chuckled, raised her head and gave a hard sniff. 

“K...this might not be the right time for this but…”

Killjoy’s eyes grew as Viper pulled out a gold ring from her pocket and slipped it on her finger. She couldn’t comprehend what was happening. Both delight and sadness fought in her heart as she stared at her lover’s big smile.

“Sabine...I-”

“Hush” Viper put a finger on Killjoy’s lips

“Ben...Ben won’t be with me anytime soon...I have to face that...and so do you”

“Sabine...are you serious?” Killjoy despite every part of her wanting to be wrapped around Viper she couldn’t simply accept what Viper had said

“Why are you making it sound like you don’t care?” 

“After he constantly loved and took care of you the moment he laid his eyes upon you...you’re just gonna give up on him?....You’re not even gonna try?” Killjoy started sobbing up again as she gently rubbed her face on the scarf

“I still- still haven’t truly-”

“Forgiven him???” Killjoy cut

“I’m sorry but I don’t understand how a rational person like you could not forgive him. Like really Sabine, are you mad!?!?”

Viper was petrified by the display of anger Killjoy was showing her. She wanted to shush her but she knows that Killjoy is striking the truth that Viper herself tried to deny many times.

“Can you for once bring down that ego of yours??? You would have been a parent and you couldn’t even forgive your would be husband for one mistake that he tries to repay every fucking day of his life???”

Viper’s face flushed with anger too but she couldn’t burst. Her pride was hit by a wrecking ball that all she could do was look away and dart glances on Killjoy.

Killjoy held hands with Viper and looked at her intently in the eyes

“He’s my friend too...one of the few people I could consider a friend...losing him would puncture a deep hole in my heart so please Sabine...do it for me too.”

Viper couldn't look away from her pleading eyes and softly caressed her hands while tracing the ring around Killjoy’s index finger

“You haven’t answered me yet”

Killjoy smiled and rested her forehead on Viper’s.

“Time will tell, but can I keep it for now?”

Viper quirked her face “Sure thing lil maus”

“I’m taller than both of you” Killjoy chuckled

“I love him but...things are just so complicated”

“I know Sabine...”

Both of them closed their eyes and enjoyed each other’s warmth until Sage came out of the door.

“Ben’s awake”

They both smiled and went inside the room while Sage along with the other medical staff went outside. 

Ben looked so fatigued that his body kind of lost it’s tan and was paler than ever. As he saw the two women approach him, he gave them a smile while Viper grabbed his hand and kissed him on the forehead.

“You’re...so cold” 

Ben struggled with his voice but nonetheless spoke

“And you’re so...warm *cough* *cough*, quite the contradictory now huh?”

Killjoy couldn’t help but feel warm and cuddly as she watched Viper hug and rub noses with him. She pondered why Viper was eager to cut the line if she loved Ben so much, She almost strangled Sage for reviving her instead of Ben and now Viper was proposing to her...weird. Killjoy then caught glimpse of Ben looking at her with his weary eyes

“C’mere, K don’t think you’re missing out on this one”

Killjoy went to the opposite side of the bed and Ben with whatever strength he had, hugged the two women tightly together. He then kissed both women on their cheeks which made Killjoy steam like a train

“Like it?” commented Viper

“SABINE!” 

Ben giggled and released the two women but grabbed on lightly to the scarf Killjoy was wearing

“Oh sorry, here-”

“No no...it suits you...it’ll keep you warm *cough* when I’m gone”

Killjoy hugged him again

“Don’t say that...please don’t, you’re my closest friend”

“It’ll be fine K, this cowboy had his final rodeo…*cough* it’s time for me to set off to the next one...” Ben gasped and struggled even more with his words as he stroked Killjoy’s head. She burrowed herself deeper in Ben’s neck while wiping her tears on the pillow

“On the bright side though, Sage and the doctors told me I'll *cough* live as long as I'm hooked to life support, removing them would still give me a day to breath but more than that *cough*... I die” Ben smiled at Viper

“I’m so sorry...honey”

“Aww, you finally called me honey”

Viper planted another kiss on his forehead

“You’ll always be my honey” 

Killjoy doubted what she had heard as she released Ben and fixed her glasses.

“Oh I almost forgot, K can you hand me my satchel over there”

Killjoy picked up the brown satchel Ben always wore from the table across them

“*cough* Sabine close your eyes and come here”

Viper rolled her eyes and hunched down near Ben’s face

“Close your eyes”

She sighed and immediately felt something cold slither around her neck like a chain. She then received a peck on the lips as Ben told her to open her eyes.

“There, that completes you” Ben remarked as he gently stroked Viper's obsidian hair 

Viper blushed and gave a sly smile “You didn’t have to you know”

“I did a lot of things that I shouldn’t...but I did…just for you”

“Listen Ben, I might develop a cure but I need you to stay here for now until we complete the mission”

“Oh...I totally forgot about that *cough*” 

He then started ripping off the needles connected to his body which made Viper hold him back.

“Somebody’s gotta lead those men *cough*, I can still do it”

“No, you’re in no condition to fight, have you seen yourself ? You’re gonna die if you exhaust yourself too much” Viper asserted

“What better place for a general to die than on the battlefield with his men” huffed Ben

“Stop joking around Ben...I uhh...want to be with you much longer”

He then pulled Viper to his forehead and whispered audibly    


“Oh of course you don’t, ever since you slipped that ring on her finger, I figured that you ended it with me”

Ben looked at Killjoy and she froze but at the same time felt like the world around her was burning. Viper too opened her mouth and didn't know what to say.

“Look honey, I promised-...vowed to you before that *cough* I’d never stop loving and caring for you. Despite how toxic you think you are, I’m always here to suck those up and let your system flow as normal”

“What…?”

“I know *cough* that didn’t make sense but point is...I can’t and I won’t stop loving you no matter what happens.”

“Damn Sabine...if you only ended me that night...I guess I wouldn’t have caused much trouble to the two of you...at least when I’m up there...I’ll know that the person who took my life was the person I’d always give my life too...and that would be *cough* a great privilege ”

Viper couldn’t help but cry as she rested her head on Ben’s shoulder and clutched him tightly.

Killjoy’s heart felt so heavy as she saw the two share what might be their final moments together. The thought of Ben living with Viper and their unborn child somewhere in the plains of Texas cheered her up but at the same time...living without her snake wrapped around her every single day of her life made her feel as if her life was a void.

“K”

“K”

She snapped out of her thoughts and responded to Ben

“Ben...I’m really sorry-”

“You don’t have to apologize...war...war doesn’t decide who’s right, only who’s left...I thank *cough* you for being one of the best opponents I’ve fought” Ben announced with a gleeful smile

Killjoy lowered her head “You deserve better Ben…”

“Yeah...I get that a lot but this is my choice, if I hadn't been like this, I wouldn’t have met Sabine and of course...you...my best friend”

“Ben stop” Viper commanded as he continued removing the needles

“Sabine please...one last time” He looked at her straight in the eye. Viper felt him directly speak to her soulless body which suddenly produced one. He then caressed one side of her cheek.

“Please…*cough* If I die...you’d be there right?”

“Ben…”

The door then suddenly slammed open which caused all three of them to get startled. Brimstone wore the most alarmed face ever. 

“Bad news…Terrible news”

“What is it?” asked Viper

“The outpost you’ll be raiding is changing guard. They’re not sending in recruits...They’re sending in shock battalions”

Viper remembered how lucky they were to catch Ben’s battalion off guard before, had they been notified much earlier, Ben and his troopers would have decimated them with haste. Despite Ben not being in command anymore, they’re still a force to be reckoned with...more to that they almost took Killjoy away from her that night. She then felt Ben grab her hand.

“I told you, you need me”

"Ben! I told you-

“You sure about this kid? You still look kinda drained” Brimstone interjected

“Not a doubt”

Viper growled at him which he returned with a with a kiss on the lips. "One last ride honey"


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A friend of mine requested me to share the nanobite discord server so here's the link: https://discord.gg/3jRAwngzc6 .We currently have 33 members as of the time I'm writing this so if you're interested, please check it out :)

“Helmet sir”

“Nah Mike, my head needs to *cough* breeze off” 

Ben waved off the helmet and put on his hat instead. He along with the other soldiers we’re gearing up for their mission that was about to start. He then proceeded to grab the scope less Marshall Raze had modified for him. On its side was a note.

“I cut the barrel and replaced it with a threaded one so that you can slap a suppressor on it. Your snake lady won’t be complaining now amigo ;) ”

He smirked and put the note inside one of his pockets

“Sir all the men are ready”

“Alright send em to the platforms, big boss doesn’t like it when *cough* we’re out of schedule”

The soldier saluted him and delegated the order to his fellow soldiers. 

‘Acid vials, check. Uhm...Snake launcher? Oh yes toxin screen launcher, check…’ Ben was doing last minute checks on his gear when he felt a hand touch his back

“Yes, hun?”

He glanced at his shoulder and confirmed his guess when he caught a glimpse of Viper.

“Here, I modified one of my spare masks. I installed some special ventilators that’ll help you breathe properly for the time being”

Ben smiled at her which made her sigh

“You want me to put it on you...don’t you?”

Ben’s eyes narrowed as his lips widened which obviously annoyed Viper 

“At least, it’ll be the last time I’ll see that stupid grin of yours” Viper quipped as she fixed the mask on Ben’s jaw. Ben stopped her midway and gave a quick kiss on the lips

“Might be the last time…”

Viper looked down and resumed fixing the mask “Shut up…”

Ben inhaled as hard as he could then released the air which caused the mask to produce the robot-like sound effect. His lungs also eased up. Whatever Viper put in there surely helped him breath comfortably. 

He then put both of his hands on her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Viper was reluctant to return the hug but it had been long since they actually hugged each other without Ben in an injured state. She felt both a mix of warmth from his temple and cold from his mask on her cheeks. Nonetheless, she enjoyed the feeling. Tightly wrapped together, they were starting to sway their bodies from side to side until Viper broke away when she saw some of the soldiers looking at their direction. She didn’t let go of his hands though, rather she gripped it more tightly and looked at him straight in the eye

“Ben...I’m sorry for being a bad...horrible partner...KJ is right, you deserve better...I’m too incompetent for you”

Ben removed his gloves and pulled Viper’s off too. Every stressed nerve in Viper’s hand calmed down when she felt Ben’s own skin gently touch hers.

“She’s right...It would have probably been for the best not only for me but for the both of you if I were to move on-”

Brimstone’s voice was suddenly heard on the loudspeakers

“Attention agents and soldiers participating in the raid mission. The mission will start shortly, please double check your gear and head to your transports ASAP. Godspeed to you all.”

“I better go back now, thanks for your time...honey”

Viper was about let go but Ben secured his grip on her

“Honey…”

Ben looked around and gestured a soldier to come to him

“Sir?”

“Tell the agent’s plane that agent Viper won’t be riding with them”

The soldier nodded and jogged off

“Ben-”

“I’m not done talking to you”

He then let go off one hand but kept the other clasped at her as he tugged her to where the planes were

“Ben...Ben...BEN!”

He didn’t stop but still spoke to her

“As I was saying, You’re very special to me Sabine...very very special”

“You can’t make me hate you. The moment I saw you...I know this sounds cheesy but...I fell in love with you.”

“When I slung you on my shoulders I knew I wanted to take care of you...Not a day in my life did I not think about your wellbeing and happiness...if you were ever happy that is-”

Ben then coughed so hard and rapidly that he had to remove his mask where he found blood splattered over it. Viper went in front of him and wiped his mouth.

“Honey...just sit this one out...please”

Ben smiled at her and wiped the interior of the mask. He then strapped it back on

“I can’t”

“WELL I CAN’T LOSE YOU!” Viper shouted, luckily no one was around

“Damn it Ben! I know I’ve proposed to KJ but please...don’t go yet, I can’t….I can’t”

Ben sighed and brushed her hair

“You’re so adorable when you’re mad-”

Out of pure anger Viper slapped the living daily out of Ben and clenched his uniform as fury engulfed her glistering eyes

“DO YOU THINK I’M JOKING?!?!?” 

“I WANT NOTHING MORE THAN TO LIVE WITH YOU FOR THE REST OF MY WRETCHED LIFE BUT YOU’RE ALWAYS TRYING TO KILL YOURSELF!!!!” 

Ben was horror-struck by Viper’s display of anger. All he could do was zip his mouth and hope that she wouldn’t rip him apart as the grip on his uniform was starting to get tighter.

“AND NOW YO-YOU’RE D-DYING…” Viper sniffed hard and was starting to break down. She then slammed her head on Ben’s chest and spoke with her voice muffled

“I-I want to enjoy w-what little time we have left”

Ben heard the distant whirls of the planes and looked at Viper who was so red and teary.

“We’ll enjoy it in our flight” Ben smiled

Viper frowned even more “Did all of that come out of your other ear”

“No, I take everything you say by heart but we have a mission to do, hun”

Ben reached out for her hand which she didn’t grab at first. He then wiped her tears and slung an arm around her which she tried to break free from. 

“C’mon, Brim won’t be happy if we “act as children again” "

Viper didn’t bother to fight anymore as she wiped her whole face on the arm slung around her

“Sabine…”

“Piss off, you made me cry”

That simple statement from Viper was enough to give Ben butterflies in his stomach which made him tighten his arm around her.

Viper pleaded Ben to board the last plane which had fewer soldiers than the rest. Seeing no reason to reject her request, he did so which rewarded him a kiss on the cheek. 

The trip to the outpost was quiet as Viper was fast asleep on Ben’s shoulder the whole flight. Ben though, despite the aid of the mask felt like his condition was starting to get worse They landed near an abandoned Soviet-era airbase on the outskirts of Siberia just a few miles away from the outpost as this would serve as their forward operating base, F.O.B. in short. The blinding whiteness of the tundra and the cool Siberian breeze made Viper hide her face under Ben when the ramps of the plane lowered.

“F-Fuck ,Ben w-why didn’t you b-bring your jacket?”

“Oh our uniforms can withstand the cold so I thought I’d just put on the usual armor and pads...you’re Alaskan, you were shaped in snow how can you-”

“We’re li-literally miles a-away from t-the n-north pole so...S-shut. Up!” Viper hissed. She had no choice but to break her conventions and hug Ben for warmth until they got to the F.O.B. 

“You’re so red”

“I-it’s freezing”

“Sure...” 

\---

“*sigh* they’re fighting again...blyat” 

“Aww how cute those two cabrones are” Reyna commented 

Killjoy like the others couldn’t help but smile as the two “fight”.

“Vipes, here we got you one” 

Viper stopped pinching Ben and Killjoy threw her a coat small enough for her slim body

Viper grinned “Thanks…”

“Welcome” Killjoy returned

Ben and Killjoy winked at each other.

“Yo-You t-two are really pi-pissing me off”

“When did we not? Anyways...” 

“Where are the other planes?”

They all scanned the skies and couldn’t find even a single dot, just a colony of seagulls gliding around.

“Corporal, can you radio them in”

“Yes sir” 

The soldier went inside one of the planes and tried reaching out to the other planes

“Why are you wearing Viper’s mask comrade?”

“Oh this is an extra she made for me. It kinda helps with my breathing....*cough cough*” 

“Those were fake” Viper assured as she stared at Ben’s narrowed eyes

Omen after being so silent spoke up

“This place...I feel something’s wrong”

Ben approached him and joked

“I don’t need anymore ghosts creeping up on me” 

“No...something...there’s something out there-”

“SIR, Teams 3 and 4 have landed on another airbase”

“What?, I’m pretty sure all our pilots received the same coordinates...how far are they?”

“They’re approximately-”

**_BOOM!_ **

Black clouds could be seen from a distance as the radio went static. Out of the clouds, tiny dots materialized and were also starting to get larger by the minute. As they were getting closer, Ben heard the thing he always heard when he was back in the Air Force

“JETS!!!”

Multiple Missiles blew up their planes instantly killing anyone inside or near them. A rain of bullets also barraged them as the jets kept on returning for strafing runs. Seeing no other option, Ben ordered everyone to get inside the air traffic control tower.

As everyone was trying to get in, Ben saw one soldier trying to limp his way inside. His left leg was blown clean off. Out of pure instinct Ben tried to go for him but was tugged back.

“Don’t you dare” Viper commanded

“Sa-Viper I can’t just leave him there”

“He’s done for can’t you see that?”

Ben didn’t wanna waste time, he noticed that Omen was looking at his direction and gave him a nod

“I’m sorry hun, I can’t just leave him there” Ben broke free from Viper and went to the entrance.

Viper rushed to him “STOP!”

“K!” 

Killjoy immediately pulled Viper away causing her to get several hard hits from the woman she was pulling away 

“What do you think you’re doing?!?!? Let go or you might get hurt even more!!!”

Killjoy was losing the fight so with all the might she had left she turned Viper to herself and crashed her lips on Viper’s.

Viper flushed red and recoiled 

“Just trust him ok?”

Viper growled at her but didn’t continue to resist, instead she observed what Ben and Omen were planning to do

“And...now!”

Omen released a paranoia charge a upwards as Ben rushed for the downed soldier.

Just as Ben got inside the tower, a jet crashed outside making Ben trip and drop the soldier very hard on the ground. He then rushed to aid the soldier.

“It’s gonna be ok buddy, just stay with me” 

The soldier’s eyes were darting everywhere and was breathing heavily as Ben tried to wrap a cloth around his leg to control the bleeding

“Si-sir…”

“No, not yet man, not yet, your fight ain’t over.”

He then took one of the soldier’s hand

“Tell...momma...I…” the soldier breathed his last and rolled his eyes upward.

“John? John? JOHN!”

Ben sighed, took off his hat and mask as he let the soldier mourn over his dead brother.

He gave a pat to the soldier “Take all the time you need”

He then walked past Viper who had her mouth half open and didn’t know what to say. 

“Happy?”

Viper snapped and went furious as she aggressively spun Ben around 

“Excuse me?!?!? He was dead anyway, going back for him would be useless”

“YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!!!” Ben shouted which echoed the voidness of the tower. All eyes were on him and Viper

“If you’d just let go of me, I would have gotten him here much earlier and controlled the blood loss but you didn’t."

You selfish BITCH!!!!”

Never did Ben curse Viper, if he ever did it was for gags and giggles but this one, this was a first and it struck Viper’s heartless heart.

She couldn’t hold it in and pounced on Ben which caused the two to fall on the ground. Viper on top was throwing every punch she could at Ben

“STOP PLAYING HERO YOU ASSHOLE!!!”

  
“ALL YOU WANT ARE MEDALS!!!”

The soldiers managed to get her off but her anger fueled her to break free and resume beating up Ben who was just sucking up her punches

“DON’T YOU LOVE ME?...IF I DIDN'T BEG YOU TO COME WITH ME, YOU WOULD HAVE DIED IN THE OTHER PLANES!!!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs as she tightly clenched Ben’s uniform while furiously scowling at him

“I do” was his simple reply as the soldiers tried pulling Viper away, this time she wasn’t able to break free as she succumbed to her tears but her eyes were still fixated on Ben and was burning with anger.

Killjoy ran towards Ben the moment Viper was out of sight

“Oh my gosh Ben…”

He chuckled “It’s ok, she doesn’t hit hard” even though his nose was clearly bleeding and a bruise was starting to form on his right cheek

“Just...help me stand...we still gotta figure out how all this turned to hell”

Killjoy along with Sova helped him up and sat him on a chair

His vision suddenly became hazy and his eyes were starting to flicker

“On second thought…I’ll rest for a bit”

“Da, rest now comrade. You are in a very bad shape”

Ben then looked at Killjoy

“Do you mind?”

Before Killjoy could even answer, Ben collapsed on her shoulder which made the hair on her back stand. After a while, she wrapped around the both of them the scarf Ben gave her and leaned on his head. She was hesitant at first but she gave his head a quick peck before leaning again.

“Uhh...Guten nacht...I guess” despite it being midday 

Sova smiled and left both of them in peace.


	11. Chapter 11

“You know I’ve always wanted a sister” 

Killjoy’s stargazing was interrupted when she heard the man leaning on her shoulder speak in a muffled voice

“Hmm?”

“A sister…never had one. You’re the closest I suppose”

Killjoy never thought Ben would consider her something as valuable as a sister but was delighted by his words.

“To be honest, despite our “Sabine” issues I could say the same thing” she huffed

“Making friends isn’t usually my strong suite. Besides you and Sabine, the only other person I could call family is Brim”

She pulled out her phone and showed Ben a selfie of her and Brimstone in their younger years. Brimstone’s beard doesn’t seem to have the streaks of white hair haunting him now.

“My father left me from a very young age. Brim took me in and raised me as his own so... he’s basically like a daddy to me”

“Well that’s nice- *cough cough cough*”

Ben continuously coughed out blood which got some on Killjoy’s jacket. He then got into his senses and noticed that he wasn’t wearing the mask Viper gave him.

“Mask- Ma-Mask” 

Killjoy remembered Ben wearing a mask earlier but was now nowhere in sight.

“Here friend” Sova reached out with the mask on his palm.

Ben swiftly nabbed the mask and inhaled once it was on causing him to sigh in relief 

“I thought it was Viper’s but she seems to be wearing one already so I assumed that it is yours considering that most of your equipment came from her.”

“Spacibo Sova” 

Sova put a hand on his shoulder

“Da, now come we must discuss the situation”

Ben removed the scarf and wrapped it around Killjoy which made her smile

They reach a much secluded area, away from the soldiers where the other two agents were gathered on a round table. Viper was much farther on the corner and had her arms crossed, avoiding both Ben and Killjoy’s gaze. Ben put his hat on the table and spoke

“Ok...now that half of our invading force is gone, how do we exactly attack now?”

“Our scouts have found a Tupolev Tu-4 bomber in one of the hangars and funny enough...its guns are all intact, a bit rusty but will still do the job” Sova answered

“Shouldn’t that belong in a museum or something? The cold war was over a century ago, our pilots aren’t familiar with it’s controls...unless I do something about it” Killjoy quipped

Sova chuckled while brushing his flawless blonde hair

“Two of our pilots are both Russian and they told me that the controls look fairly easy”

“ “Look...fairly easy” ” Viper commented in her low monotone voice, the shadow covering most of her face as she spoke

“I have trust in our comrades”

“Your comrades” Viper lowly growled

Sova sighed and turned to face Ben

“How about you friend, you’ve got more experience leading people than any of us, what is your take on this?”

Ben stroked his chin then answered “Does it have it’s payload?”

“Unfortunately no but it has a lot of ammunition for its guns”

“How many soldiers do we have left-”

Viper suddenly interrupted Ben

“Are you seriously buying into this stupid idea? That thing hasn’t flown for almost a hundred years and now you expect it to fly it willy nilly? and we’re already way behind schedule, we can’t waste time fixing it”

She did have a point, the plane is really old. Putting it out of retirement might be a bad idea and plus, it’s slow and an easy target for surface to air missiles and the like.

“Hmm...fair point, well we certainly can’t cross the sea with lifeboats, that would be suicide so I guess radioing Brimstone for reinforcements would be the only option we have now”

“So we just hunker down here?” Omen asked 

“Yes, what we should really be concerned right now is finding who the rat is”

Reyna who was shivering because she still chose to wear her revealing outfit spoke

“M-Mierda, I should have trusted my gut”

All eyes were fixated on her

“I saw two soldier discussing something at base and when I suspiciously looked at both of them, I felt their hearts jump. I dismissed the thought and didn’t bother to ask them but I knew something was up”

“Well good job, you might have gotten all of us killed” Viper retorted

“Sa-Viper, not now”

“Don’t. Talk. To. Me.”

Ben tried to look at her but the murkiness of the area prevented him. He felt like Viper was really a snake. Lurking in the shadows, not knowing when it would strike you with its venom

“Oh don’t worry  cariño, your little serpiente here doesn’t scare me a bit” Reyna returned with a smug on her face

“What was that?” 

Viper was about to creep out of the dark while Reyna started licking her lips but before things could get out of hand Omen and Sova intervened to prevent the two women from confronting 

“Ok back to the topic...I feel like the same thing happened when me and KJ went out the other day. Someone from the inside must have told Kingdom itself”

Ben turned around and faced what remaining soldiers they had left. 

‘Could the infiltrators probably be in our ranks right now?’

His eyes observing every move they made

“I have a hunch that the mole could be here with us...”

Ben then gazed on all the agents

“Kingdom wants all of you alive, this was clearly a trap that Brimstone never saw-”

Before Ben could finish his sentence his radio sprung to life as Brimstone’s voice was suddenly heard through some static. He then put it to loudspeaker so that everyone could hear.

“Do you copy captain?”

“Loud and clear”

Despite the white noise, Brimstone’s voice showed signs of worrying. Multiple gunshots and explosions ripping through the air could also be heard 

“Listen we’ve been compromised. We can’t hold on for much longer here and we’d have to go nomad for now”

“What? What do you mean go nomad, don’t we have multiple bases?”

“Yes but most if not all were compromised”

They then heard another explosion but this one louder and what sounded like a thud

“Sir? Sir? Brim!, Brimstone!” 

After a short pause, Brimstone breathed heavily and panted “We’re sending in an evac to you but- FOR CRYING OUT LOUD DON’T STOP SHOOTING!”

Ben had to yank the device away for him because of the sheer power and tenacity of Brimstone’s voice

“But you have to make this really quick”

“We’ve tracked a blizzard sweeping your way so once the plane lands you gotta break for it, and remember, I need my agents _ alive  _ is that understood?”

Ben wanted to tell Brimstone that the pilots should hasten their trip to the F.O.B. but taking into consideration Brimstone’s current situation, he didn’t bother to retort.

“Yes sir” With that the communication was cut silent.

All of the agent's eyes (yes including Omen) were focused on Ben. He looked back and also saw the soldiers looking at him

“Ah darn it” he whispered to himself

He then took his hat and stepped on the round table, elevating him.

“So as you all know by now, this mission has ended before it even began...and VALORANT has been compromised”

“What we need to do now is fortify the area and take care of our wounded”

“I don’t know when our enemies will strike but I know they will, they need something from us”

“They want our agents. They want what they can do...they want their minds”

Ben gazed at Viper who still had her icy glare fixed on him. Ben was smiling underneath his mask so only his eyes could give the sign that he was smiling

“Of course. We can’t let that happen...the two pilots whom Agent Sova mentioned that were of Russian descent please step forward”

One bald Cossack looking man with a small beard stepped forward. He was then followed by a rather small looking woman with the same Siberian look and had her blonde hair done in pigtails. Once they were beside each other, they saluted their Captain which he reciprocated

“1st Lt. Ivan Kuznetsov and this is my sister 2nd Lt.Marina Kuznetsov” 

“How willing are you to die for one of our agents here?”

“With my life sir”

Ben nodded at the enthusiasm of of the pilot then turned to face the woman

“You?”

“I...I-it’s what I-we signed up for”

“Hmm?”

“Marina it’s ok, we’ve talked about this” Ivan tried to whisper

“Don’t pressure your sister, Ivan”

Ivan straightened his head while Marina seemed to be shooting glances with Viper. Ben noticed this and stepped down from the table to block the predator’s view.

“Are you scared?”

“Ye-No, NO! Sir” she stammered

Ben let out a small chuckle

“I am”

She then looked at his dark oak eyes and somewhat felt a surge of relief flow through her veins

Ben then removed his mask and elevated his voice

“We’re all scared…”

“But we got a job to do…”

As Ben was boosting the morale of the troops, Omen leaned beside Viper which made her quip an eyebrow at him 

“I’ve never thanked him”

“You’re a ghost” Viper sarcastically said

Omen obviously unamused just glanced at her and back to Ben

“Sabine...what did you really do to me? Did you really intend to do this?”

Viper let out a sigh and looked at the ceiling

“I don’t really know...All I can recall was pumping radianite into your stream”

“The next thing I remembered is me waking up bruised up in a cell with Ben feeding me like a dog” 

Viper unzipped a little bit of her outfit and reached for the necklace Ben gave her. She then run her fingers around it.

“Your parents”

Viper stopped circling the emerald with her finger and faced Omen with her eyes wide open.

“Actually no...this is none of my business”

Omen tried to walk away but Viper stopped him

“Despite everything, you still owe me Omen, I’ve risked a lot to save you” 

Viper could feel his arm pulsing with whatever power she gave him. She also wasn’t scared by the three glowing scars Omen would consider his eyes.

“No. This would make things worse” Omen asserted, his voice getting more hoarse

“Things are already bad, now spill it”

Omen tugged his arm away 

“No, for Ben’s sake and you’re sake for that matter, I won’t”

Viper was about to follow him but Killjoy stopped her

Viper didn’t have to say a word as her snarl would have been enough to tell Killjoy to get out of the way, but she didn’t

“I’ll throw my ring away if you don’t move”

“Nein!, not now Sabine” 

“Fine then”

Without hesitation Viper removed her glove and the ring on her finger and threw it into the darkness. She snarled again at Killjoy while forcibly bumping her shoulder as she chased after Omen.

Killjoy felt like she was shot in the heart multiple times. It happened so fast that Killjoy herself stood there frozen. Luckily Ben concluded his speech and turned to face Killjoy

“Hey, why the long face-”

She literally jumped on him like a baby and let her tears flow out

“K-...K- wait…”

He then fixed her position and carried her bridal style instead. Some eyes were already fixed on them including Reyna who was quirking her sharp eyebrows

“Two timer huh,  cariño? How about me?”

“Soon” Ben chuckled

“Bueno, I’ll play with our owl boy over here first”

Sova sighed and gave Ben a “why now?” face which Ben returned with a wink

Ben went one floor up and opened the door to the closest room. The room was small, dusty and pretty much empty, only a window overlooking the vast tundra outside. He then set her down on a desk and removed his mask

“I’ll keep it open so that we could have a little light in here and...so that we won’t look suspicious”

The only light source they had was from the multiple light sticks the soldiers dropped around the building which were bright enough for them not to trip at any corner 

*sigh* “What did she do now?”

“I-I just- just stopped her from t-trying to start a f-fight with Omen th-then”

Ben removed her glasses and wiped it with her scarf. He then slipped it on her and this time, wiped her the stream of tears with the same scarf. Killjoy pulled Ben to her chest and hugged him as tight as she could causing Ben’s hat to fall off.

“Th-then she threw our engagement r-ring away...I can’t B-Ben I...”

Ben stroked the hair on her back and whispered intently “Shhh shhh...it’s alright I’m here...I’m here”

Killjoy felt so warm and secure as Ben whispered those words. Every stroke he did also soothed not only her physical pain but her feelings as well. Ben smiled and from the glint he had in his lids, puppy eyed her which she loved so much, so much that she kissed him.

On the lips

Killjoy broke free and didn’t know how to react. Part of her feels so ashamed, the other so relaxed. He stared at Ben who too was petrified and had his mouth and eyes wide open

“Oh m-my go-gosh Ben I d-didn’t mean to”

Ben was about to speak but a cold voice too familiar spoke as a figure materialized at his peripherals

“Of course you didn’t mean to”

Ben and Killjoy both went red hot and slowly turned their heads at the speaker who had her arms crossed and eyes fueled with rage. 

She then snapped the chain of her necklace and threw it at Ben which hit his forehead really hard

“SABINE!” Killjoy cried out

“Oh so you’re going to defend him huh?”

“Fuck you...fuck both you”

Viper then slammed the door which made the two jump. The only light they had now was from moonlight which barely illumined their faces

“Oh my..th-this is my fault”

Ben held a hand on his forehead which soaked his glove red. 

“Is there a-anything I can do to-to help?” 

“No no, I’ll be fine. Here hold on this for awhile I have to go after her”

Ben handed the necklace to Killjoy who clasped his hand

“I’m so sorry I really didn’t mean to, it’s just...you’re so hard not to love”

Ben removed the hand controlling the bleeding on his forehead and held both Killjoy’s hand

“It’s ok, I understand but to be honest I was kinda surprised you did that”

Killjoy depressingly frowned and lowered her head

“Oh”

“But hey, you’re still my best friend so cheer up and here...if this helps...”

Ben then kissed her nose and pushed her glasses up 

Killjoy yet again felt a mix of delight and shame but nonetheless gave a half-hearted smile.

“Go get something to eat, you look famished” 

Ben then went out of the room and Killjoy was left there...alone

‘Verdammt what were you thinking? You love Ben as a friend, nothing more nothing else, suck it in K. Suck. It. In.’

Killjoy couldn’t really accept what she had done. She had feelings for Ben but learnt to suppress and convert that into friendship. She looked at her left hand which was kinda bloodied and thought to herself again

‘This is my fault’

  
  
  


\----

  
  


“Hey have you seen Viper?”

“I saw her go out the back comrade, she’s seems to be more angrier than ever...oh I see” Sova replied as he saw Ben wrap a bandage around his forehead

“She is. Oh, can I have some of that Ukha you made?”

“Da, of course, here take another one for Viper and tell her I filleted the fish this time”

Ben nodded and thanked Sova. He then proceeded to where the fire exit is and as he opened the door he saw Viper outside shivering with her fur coat on, staring at the polar lights that just formed. Knowing that Viper might shove away the soup, he placed it on the ground first before stepping into the cold.

“G-Go away” she stuttered

“Honey you’ll get hypothermia out here, come inside I have some soup” 

  
  
“Don’t “honey” me, and I-I don’t care”

Ben went closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist while resting his chin on her shoulder. She flinched at first but didn’t resist that much as her body was starting to give in to the cold.

“They reflect your eyes” 

“Sh-shut up”

“I’m sorry ok, K was just...frustrated and sad when you dumped your engagement ring”

The mention of the ring vexed Viper even more as she struggled to break free.

“Honey stop...you’re shivering too much, come on”

“N-no” she coldly replied

Ben sighed and carried her by the legs, luckily she had no strength to resist 

“Pu-Put me down!”

“Yup over here” 

Ben leaned her against the wall across the exit so that the view of the lights can still be seen. He then grabbed the bowls and sat beside Viper.

She sighed then tried to take hold of the spoon but was still shivering, causing its contents to slightly spill “Sh-shit”

Ben chuckled and set his own bowl aside and grabbed Viper’s

“Say ahh”

“Fuck o-off” she snarled but then took a sip

Ben couldn’t decipher if she was red due to the cold or if she was blushing but he was clearly enjoying feeding Viper but the latter obviously didn’t, maybe. 

“I’m gonna get us some water, don’t wander off now”

“Coffee”

“Sabine...you’re a thousand miles away from your lab...you need sleep and...that’s not how coffee works” Ben replied with a hand on his hip

She had no response and just stared back at him.

“Ugh fine” 

Ben went to the quartermaster but instead of asking for coffee, he asked for two hot chocolates which he was quickly served

Ben returned to where Viper was and saw that she had a couple of blankets wrapped around her

“Where’d you get those?”

“A couple soldiers saw me shivering so I glared at them and they immediately knew what I wanted...and that’s not coffee”

Ben handed her her mug and started digging into his soup which was now cold

“They ran out of coffee”

“Sure” she sarcastically replied

The two were rather silent as they observed the night sky glimmer with the constantly waving polar lights 

“Bet you see a lot of this back in Alaska”

“No, not really...I don’t go out that much”

“Of course you don’t” 

Viper then wrapped the blanket she had on Ben and leaned on his shoulder

“Sabine-”

“Shut up...”

  
  
“I want to sleep”

Ben didn’t really understand his girl. One minute she was trying to kill him, now she’s sleeping on his shoulder

He then put his arm around and repositioned her head on his chest so they could get a more comfortable position

“Don’t blame me if you’re tummy grumbles later on”

“I’ve gone through worse...sing a song” 

Ben kissed her hair and gazed at the sky

“Twinkle twinkle little...snake”  
  
  
"Cunt..."


	12. Chapter 12

“Hmm, this must be her’s”

Ben stumbled upon what seemed to be Viper’s ring buried under a pile of dust and rubble. He gave it a quick wipe and thought to himself ‘Well, this is pretty plain for an engagement ring’

He gazed at where Viper was and saw her still wrapped up in the blankets like an onion, warm and cozy. Which made him giggle and feel warm too

“Sir”

Ben spun around to face the person who called his attention

“Yes Ivan?” 

The pilot handed Ben his hat which made him touch his head only to feel his hair, brushing it at the same time.

“She’s ready to go sir. I’ve asked some of the soldiers to help refit her guns while me and my sister performed some diagnostics to make sure she’s still functioning. Though no guarantee that she’ll fly well”

“Chutes?”

“We’re still looking for them”

Ben stroked his chin and looked at the man in the eye

“Better hurry then, anyways is breakfast ready?”

“Agent Sova has made you all some meals, we soldiers have our-”

Ben smiled and put a hand on the taller man’s shoulder

“Ivan, we have much more to discuss, call the men I’ll be eating with y’all”

Ivan, stunned by his Captain’s display of lowliness smiled back and proceeded to muster his fellow soldiers

\---

“What the hell…”

Viper couldn’t move most of her muscles as she slowly regained consciousness. Irritated by her lover’s endless antics towards her, she squirmed rapidly until she got her shoulders free. ‘And he didn’t even close the fucking door’.

Viper fought the cold wind breezing throughout her whole body as she tried closing the door. 

As she was pulling it in, red stains splattered on the snow caught her attention. She immediately recognized it as Ben’s blood which made her feel sad and worried. Despite everything that had happened she wasn’t ready to let go of him...Despite Killjoy, Ben still throbbed in her heart.

Her morning was pretty rough. She felt very nauseous and her breasts were stinging from time to time. She dismissed the pain and instead tidied herself up in one of the bathrooms.

'Shit...this can't be'

As she was about to exit she was greeted by the person she’d want to see the least

“Sab-”

“Fucking tell me already!” she snarled as she grabbed the garments of the hooded figure.

There was no response, instead Omen locked his glowing blue  _ eyes _ on the green ones in front of him. Viper showing no sign of intimidation, tightened her grip and closed in on Omen. She could already feel the pulse of whatever power Omen had bounce on and off her rosy face.

“I don’t care how many times I’ll have to kill you...I will get-”

“Breakfast”

Before she could finish, the annoying Texan voice she loved and hated spoke behind Omen.

Viper gave him her signature death stare which obviously, had no effect on him.

She then sighed and let go of Omen but not before furrowing her eyebrows again on him.

As Omen went inside the bathroom, Viper walked past Ben, bumping him in the process

“Bad start today huh…*cough*?”

“You didn’t wear your mask while you were sleeping, didn’t you?”

Ben strapped on his mask and breathed in and out first before responding

“You’re my oxygen” 

Viper rolled her eyes and nodded in disapproval “You’re pathetic”

“Pathetically in love” he retorted while huffing underneath his mask

Viper stopped walking and turned to give him another death stare.

Ben spun her around and put an arm on her shoulder “You asked for it”

Viper furiously fought her way out and noticed some of the soldiers staring at them. All she had to do to ward off their attention was to raise her head and slowly turn it to one of her shoulders. 

“Here Viper, breakfast”

Sova approached her and offered some sunny side ups and a cup of coffee. 

Viper stared at him and couldn’t help but slightly blush at Sova’s innocent face.

“T-thank you...Sova”

“You are welcome Viper” he nodded and went his way

She watched as his elegant blond hair waved and fluttered carelessly in the air which made Ben chuckle at how fixated she is

“Tomato”

“What?”

“Cheeks”

“I’ll fucking kill you”

Viper, not wanting anymore attention led Ben to a stairwell leading to the control cab of the tower. After what seemed to be forever they finally reached the top where they found the abandoned workstation of air traffic controllers. The breathtaking view of the tundra also greeted their eyes as they approached the windows 

“Just imagine Sabine...all the people working here. The flickering lights, the stress of controlling air traffic...oh look, mug shards. Somebody’s been working really hard. I wonder why they had to abandon it” 

Viper dusted off one of the tables and settled her breakfast there

“Look I’m here to eat, not to reminisce memories that I never had”

Ben smiled at her and before she could react, he took a sip of her coffee

“Did you ask?” she coldly hissed

“I don't have to”

He put his mask back on and marched to one of the windows with his hands clasped together behind him. 

“Sabine...how much do you love me?”

“Here we go again with this nonsense. I’m not pulling you back if that’s what you’re thinking” she said as she munched down her eggs.

“You think our baby would have been proud of what it's mommy and daddy has done?

Viper stopped chewing and settled down her fork. The mention of their lost child both saddened and refueled her rage for Kingdom. She knows deep inside that she wouldn’t be a good mother but, she was still the mother of that child and she would do anything to protect and take care of it. 

“I might not fully support what you and K have but at least with her you’d be safe…you’d be happy”

Ben paused then faced Viper who was already staring at him

“Your parents…”

Those words widened Viper’s eyes as she prepared herself for whatever it is she was about to hear

“I loved your parents...especially your dad”

He directed his gaze to the sky as he continued on speaking

“He told me that he was so lucky that someone would finally tolerate her stubborn daughter”

“That he could finally rest knowing you would be safe”

Ben paused for a moment flicked a tear on his eye before continuing. Viper doubted at first but Ben's somber voice indicated that he was not lying about his feelings.

“I...I was ordered to do it…”

“Do what Ben?” 

Ben swallowed hard as he heard the chair move and footsteps slowly close on him. Viper herself was more scarier than an actual snake slithering itself to its victim.

“Their last wish...their last wish was to be shot...by someone they loved”

The footsteps stopped as Ben felt the warm breath of Viper engulf his nape making him shiver in fear.

“Kingdom only knew one other person who had ties with them and yes...they promised me the rank of Captain if I did it”

“I didn’t want to. I never wanted to but your dad...your dad himself approached and hugged me...then he told me that it was alright...that I was doing it for you…” 

“Your mom...you always reminded me of her. Same eyes and was always quiet...it really pierced through my heart when she smiled at me before I...you know…”

Ben might have only known Viper’s parents for a short time but Viper could tell that he had already constructed a bridge sturdier than her’s. 

“You shot them?” 

Her voice sounding more dreaded than ever

Ben sniffed and it’s noise was amplified by the mask

“Y-yes” 

The silence of the tower was already intimidating, what more a predator behind you ready to strike at any given moment. Ben readied himself for whatever Viper would do to him but to his ultimate surprise, he felt two arms slither around his waist while a nose gently settled on his nape

“Thank you…” Viper hummed

“Sabine…?”

“I...just wish you told me much earlier”

Ben’s whole body relaxed as Viper rested her head on Ben’s shoulder and leaned on his neck.

He then turned around and fell to both of his knees. A tight hug followed as Ben pressed himself on Viper’s abdomen.

Viper didn’t say a word, she instead removed his hat and caressed his slick hair very delicately. She herself dropped to her knees and met Ben eye to eye. She was surprisingly the one smiling and trying to cheer Ben up

Ben didn't have the courage to speak to her yet so he instead rested his head on her shoulder while receiving multiple pecks and hushes from Viper.

They spent the moment in silence, enjoying each other’s warmth until Ben’s radio came into life

“All ready sir”

Ben’s eyes slanted at Viper indicating that he’s smiling behind his mask

“Good, prepare for takeoff. I’ll be there shortly”

Ben stood up and stretched. Not wanting to waste time, he went for the stairs but was stopped by Viper. 

“You’re joking right? Brimstone is sending us modern transports that are actually reliable and you still wanna fly in that thing?” 

“Never said it was for you” Ben grinned as he continued down the stairs. 

Viper quirked at the statement 

“What?!?!?, Come back here!!!” 

Viper raced for Ben when he himself grabbed her by the hand.

“Just trust me on this ok?” Ben politely asked

She frowned but had no effect on Ben who continued tugging her downstairs. 

When they got down all the other agents were standing in front of them with confused looks on their faces. Killjoy noticed them holding hands and weirdly smirked so Viper took the initiative to wiggle herself free from Ben’s clasp while continually snarling at her. 

“Listen agents, no time to explain just wait for your evac to come and we’ll follow suit”

“BEN! For Fuck’s Sa-” Before Viper could finish her sentence, explosions and a rain of bullets erupted outside the tower. Ben barked at the soldiers to “execute” the plan and in a split second, the soldiers were running in every direction.

“Sabine...stay safe ok?”

Viper who was fighting a mix of confusion and worry made her slap Ben so hard that his mask almost fell off.

“BEN!”

He sighed and gestured to the other agents to restrain Viper.

“LET GO OFF ME THIS INSTANT OR I’LL POISON YOU ALL!”

Despite Viper’s best efforts. The combined strength of Omen, Sova, and Reyna held her off while Killjoy watched her from a close distance. Viper turned her scowl at her and spoke as if trying suck the life out of her.

“You…”

How dare you…how fucking dare you…”

Killjoy didn’t want to fight Viper so she lowered her head and cowered away. Ben then turned Viper's head to him and removed her left hand glove. 

He also removed his mask and gave Viper’s pale hand a kiss. What happened next was something Killjoy was supposed to do but Ben beat her to it.

“Don’t lose it this time...”

“Ben…”

He then kissed the ring on her finger and turned to Killjoy who was silently sobbing this whole time

“Take care of her K”

Killjoy hugged him and whispered something

“ Come h-home, please…”

Debris suddenly started falling on them as some part of the tower exploded when a missile from the Kingdom jets hit the tower. They then saw the Tupolev, still on the runway, fighting off the other jets with its machine guns. It was a large target and holes were already being made in the plane as more and more jets poured in. Surprisingly though, they haven’t fired a single missile to the plane that could utterly destroy it from where it stands.

Ben patted her back and replied

“No promises…”

With that, he tipped his hat to the other agents and ran to the exit. 

“Come we must hurry” One of the soldiers directed the agents to go to the other fire exit as the bomber distracted the fighter jets.

Viper who was being pulled away took another look at the plane and saw Ben boarding it. Viper fueled by rage, gathered all the strength she could muster and broke free from her fellow agent’s grasps making most of them stumble to the ground

“VIPER NO!” Sova cried out

The jets veered off for the moment due to their losses so Ben’s pilots took the opportunity to take off from the runway. 

Viper ran so fast and furiously that she tripped on the debris surrounding the now demolished tower primarily because Reyna used a leer to blind her. Despite her bleeding, she nonetheless continued on running. 

"Mierda"

As she reached the runway, dark clouds started to form in front of her and something was beginning to materialize out of it. She immediately recognized what this trick was so she garnered more speed so that when the form materialized she simply rammed through it causing it to fall painfully to the concrete while she herself rolled roughly causing her some of her outfit to get torn and expose more blood.

“FUCK ALL OF YOU!” she shouted as she stood up and continued on running.

Ben and the tail gunner of the plane were left in shock as they saw what Viper was going through. She was covered in blood but her wrathful face showed no signs of losing momentum.

Viper then saw a streak of lightning fly over her, though too slow to be considered lightning. As soon as it hit the ground, the bolt exploded and charged electricity in a small circular area, incapacitating Viper for a moment.

Sova was about to fire another shock dart but seeing Viper’s bloody face viciously growling at him made him go pale and retract the arrow. Last thing he’d want was for him to be sadistically experimented on.

\---

“Gunner, fire warning shots” 

“Affirmative”

The gunner fired the explosive 20mm rounds near Viper but it didn’t stop her from pursuing the plane which was slowly gaining speed. Viper was so torn up that she practically looked like a zombie limping it’s way to her prey. Ben didn’t understand why she was still trying to catch up, Though it did hurt him a lot to see Viper in this horrid state, he nonetheless sucked up the feeling.

She dropped to one knee and stroked her arm. She then aimed at one of the engines

“What the hell is she doing…”

It wasn’t supposed to work but Viper managed to incapacitate one of the engines, slowing it down but before she could stand up and run again. She felt her whole body lock in place.

‘Fuck, how could have I not noticed KJ???’

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

Killjoy stood at the end of the runway watching Viper effortlessly try to break free from the blast caused by her lockdown to no avail. Viper, accepting the fact that she couldn’t possibly catch up with the plane now, turned to where Killjoy was standing and shouted every curse word she could throw at her.

‘This is it KJ, Viper and you are over...you’re dead...you’re dead’

At the exact moment the effects of the lockdown wore off, the plane managed to lift itself off and drift into the horizon.

Killjoy saw how Viper reached out to the sky and continuously called out Ben’s name. Not only did she feel sad for her relationship with Viper but for Ben as well. She watched as one of the few persons she’d consider family sacrifice himself in order for them to return home safely.

“The transport is here Killjoy, go now. Me and Omen will get Viper” a panting Sova said to Killjoy.

As Killjoy ran to their evac plane, she heard the skies blare with gunfire. The clouds were also flashing orange lights as she saw a jet plummet down the Earth.

“Don’t look back!” Sova commanded as he and Omen carry an unconscious Viper

\---

“Status Ivan?” Ben asked

“Engine 1 is a total failure and we have a huge whole on our right wing”

“Crap, keep her steady they’re almost out”

“Ye-”

Ben was about to approach the radio operator when bullets from one of the jets shot through their side, killing Ivan instantly. Luckily, the turret gunner on top of the plane managed to shoot down the jet and seemed to be the last one in the current wave

“Ivan?, IVAN!, нет! нет! мой брат, мой брат” 

Ben who was covered in blood, removed Ivan’s body and took his seat and looked at his co-pilot in the eye

“Marina, listen we still have a job to do. You love your brother so much and he loves you as well but now’s not the time for emotions, da? Ivan would have wanted you to continue the mission and win medals for your family, da?

“Da!”

Ben smiled at her and asked her what the basics of flying the plane were which she gladly explained though usually getting off tracked by the sight of her dead brother.

“Status of the agents, radio operator?”

“They’re out of the danger zone sir”

“Good...now we bail”

Ben stood from the pilot seat and gave Marina a pat before heading to check the gunners and the parachutes. He saw how most of the gunners were badly injured. One already lost a leg, the other an eye. The plane was pretty much busted. The body was riddled with holes and the engines were whirling rapidly, what’s worse is that the oxygen tanks were pretty much shot up, making breathing harder by the minute. 

The situation became much grimmer once Ben found the parachutes. There were only four brought aboard and there were nine of them still alive. Not to mention the blizzard was starting to reach them

‘Crap…’

\---

"How is she?"

Killjoy observed as the medics on board clean Viper up and hook her on life support. 

"She's pretty battered up but nothing too fatal"

Killjoy let out a sigh of relief but still worried about the state Viper was in. 

Her whole face was a bloody mess, her green outfit was pretty much torn up and exposed many bruises and lacerations, She was twitching despite her being unconscious. 

Killjoy placed her palm over the hand Viper had a ring on and whispered in her ear

"Please forgive me"

"I hope she forgives all of us" Sova interjected

"I have never imagined such love for a persons exists…"

Sova remarked as he gripped his bow tightly

"I fear that Viper would never speak again, at least to the four of us"

Omen and Reyna were both speechless at the corner. Reyna herself was trembling from what had happened. Never has she seen this side of Viper. Never did she think that the silent snake could turn so vicious when fighting for something she loves. 

After a few minutes of silence, the pilot announced something that startled everyone

“Radar’s picking something up...too slow to be a jet though”

“No don’t risk it, speed up” Omen’s hoarse voice commanded them

“Yes, I can only feel one heartbeat, that’s most likely a jet” Reyna added

The pilots were about to push the throttle when one of the soldiers yelled stop

“It’s Captain Martinez, it’s him”

He then put his radio to loudspeaker so that they could hear him speak

“Howdy y’all *cough*”

Killjoy was the first one to respond as she snatched the radio from the soldier causing him to jolt back.

“Ben!?!, Ben trail our plane, we can make it outta here...we can” Killjoy pleaded as her voice started to quaver in fear

Ben chuckled first then spoke “No can do K. This'll be her first and final rodeo. The blizzard's nearing too”

“Nein...bitte” 

“Listen, tell the pilot to slow down a bit so that I could *cough* catch up”

The pilots were reluctant at first to follow the order but Killjoy’s desperation and the look on the agent’s sour faces gave them no choice. 

They were soon hearing the quadruple engines the Tupolev had as the bomber flew over them. When they got a clearer sight of the plane they were astonished to see how it still manages to fly.

Huge holes in every part of the plane that you could already see the interior. The tail seemed like it would break off at any moment and black smoke was trailing every engine. 

The pilots then leveled the plane so that they could get a view of Ben. He was obviously struggling with the yoke but managed to crack a smile once he saw their faces through the portholes their plane had.

“Where are the others?” asked Sova

“I ordered them to bail out, tell Brimstone to send teams to find them, they went out in twos...though the blizzard might take them...”

“Why didn’t you go?”

“Lack of chutes of brother”

Sova chuckled. “After all this you still manage to keep your cool?”

Ben in turn chuckled and started singing softly 

“ _ What’s the use of worrying? It never was worthwhile *cough* SO pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile ,smile, smile” _

“B-ben..”

They heard a weak whimper from behind and saw Viper crying while reaching out for the portholes.

Sova asked one of the soldiers to help stand Viper up so that they could bring her closer to the portholes.

Killjoy, while keeping her distance, held the radio near Viper so that she could speak to Ben. Viper merely glared at her indicating that she was still mad about what had happened.

“Now I know why your dad entrusted to me his stubborn girl” Ben joked

Viper couldn’t speak and instead painfully sobbed some which Ben felt despite the distance.

“Sabine...Thank you…”   
  


“For everything…”

Viper already lost so much and now Ben was about to be taken away from her. She felt her own body cripple her but fought every ounce of temptation to give up.

“We’ve rode together in almost every...adventure we had but...”

“The trail to the next one...I’ll have to ride alone” 

Viper cried even more making her push the radio away.

“Auf wiederse-” before Ben could finish his sentence, a missile hit one of his engines, instantly destroying it. 

The pilots were presumably so distracted by Ben’s farewell that they didn’t notice the multiple beeps coming from their radar. Both their 12 and 6 showed signs of aircraft. Ben gave one final smile then saluted them before decreasing his speed to stall the jets pursuing them.

They watched as the plane slowly vanished into the clouds. Viper and Killjoy gazed as the person who took care of them and gave so much love slowly faded into the void. No more late night drinking, no more person to wipe her glasses, and no more to wrap the scarf around her. As for Viper, she’d lose the only person who understood her, who was the most patient with her but most importantly, the person who’d do everything just to make her smile.

Viper closed her eyes and gnashed her teeth as she heard an explosion from behind. In a split second she lost it, she lost her mind and went for the Odin strapped on the side. 

It being too heavy for her weak state to carry, placed it on the floor and flicked the switch on the ramp’s door which alarmed the pilots.

They tried closing it through the switch on their panel but a shot from behind prevented them from doing so

“ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!?!” one of the pilots shouted

Her eyes burned through the pilot’s soul as she gnashed her teeth and aimed the pistol at him. 

Seeing no hesitation to pull the trigger, Sova immediately jumped, taking a bullet to his stomach.

“VIPER!” Reyna and Omen shouted

“TU CABRON, YOU SHOT SOVA!” Reyna and the other soldiers rushed to help Sova while Viper without letting go of her angered demeanor rushed to the Odin and cocked it ready

“Sabine, you’ll fall off!!!” 

“I DON’T CARE, BACK OFF!!!” Viper roared.

“Get her back here, we need to gain altitude and she will fall if she stays there!!!” the pilot commanded

‘No not this time’ Killjoy thought to herself

“SABINE, COME HERE NOW!” 

Viper didn’t bother to reply nor look back. She instead sat and clenched the Odin tightly

‘C’mon you cunts, I’m ready’

Two jets appeared from the clouds and were locking on to their plane but before Viper could pull the trigger, a cloth made into a bowline caught her by the neck and choked her. 

Killjoy then with help from a soldier, pulled Viper to her despite the risk of actually killing her. She hugged her very tightly as the plane gained altitude.

“Hold on, help’s almost here” the pilot roughly said as he and his co-pilot pulled on the yoke with all their might

The jet’s pilots were closing in and could now possibly see the white in Viper’s eyes but all they saw was rage and pure hate as Killjoy held her back from possible leaping at their jets.

“END. IT...END IT !!!” She shouted at them

Killjoy was starting to lose her grip and was about to let go of Viper but out of nowhere, missiles swooped below them and directly hit their pursuers, chipping them off the sky. Two other jets flew below them but this time they were painted dark grey and had VALORANT’s insignia on their tails. 

Everyone let out a sigh of relief as the pilots levelled the plane and more and more jets from VALORANT swarmed in to escort them. 

A soldier managed to flip the manual switch on the plane while Viper unconsciously removed the scarf that was restraining her and let the wind carry it out the plane which made Killjoy go mad as she spun Viper to face her

“What the hell was that for?”

“The fuck-?”

“THAT WAS BEN’S” 

Viper looked back and saw the scarf slowly get smaller as the winds play with the scarf and drag it to the closing blizzard. The ramps then came to full close and the sight of the scarf was no more. She looked back at Killjoy who had her eyebrows furrowed so deeply she could strangle Viper then and there. Viper, in turn, wanted to punch her so hard because not only did she kiss Ben but also prevented her from catching Ben earlier on the runway. 

She sighed and broke free from Killjoy.

“We’re done”

Viper went to the farthest corner of the plane and sat there with her arms crossed. The medics tried to approach her but all they received were scowls from her blood-stained face which was enough to frighten them. 

Killjoy on the other hand approached Sova and other agents tending him

“Is it over Killjoy?”

“I hope...I hope”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the late post, I had to do lots of Christmas preparations and uhh...I'm kinda drunk so yeah, Merry Christmas y'all!


	13. Chapter 13

“Vamonos KJ, we need to debrief” the Mexican said in a low-spirited tone as she offered her hand to the German. Reyna always looked down on the non-radiant users within the agent’s ranks so her offering her hand made Killjoy crack a smile.

They landed on one of their bases in Bhutan, codenamed “Haven” and everyone was still shell shocked with what had happened. Viper lost it and locked herself away in a room. Omen teleported to a place where only the wind could bother him. Sova, though the wound was not fatal, was being treated by the medics. Sage would have been of great help right now but there’s still no word where she and the rest of the agents were or if any of them survived. 

“Is everyone ok?”

“Brimstone, Breach, and Cypher escaped together and would like to speak to us”

As they entered, everyone and everything was in disarray. Phones were blaring, ammunition crates being dragged in and out, sensitive files being stored away, some even burned, people shouting at each other here and there that they didn't even notice the presence of the agents amongst them. 

“Aqui” Reyna opened the door and Killjoy was greeted by the holograms of the three known survivors

Breach was tinkering with one of his arms which was producing some smoke. Brimstone and Cypher were discussing something until they noticed the women standing in front of them

Brimstone crossed his arms and asked “The others?” 

“Sova’s in medical, Viper and Omen don’t want to be bothered-”

A soft and almost inaudible explosion was heard behind them and before they knew it, three blue streaks of light were glowing from the shadows, leering at them. 

The door then clicked open and Viper grumpily entered the room while avoiding everyone’s gaze. She pulled out a chair and grunted as she sat down while rubbing her stomach.

“You ok back there Viper?” 

Brimstone’s concern for the scientist vexed her all the more as she scoffed his simple question away. 

Brimstone sighed “Ok...mind telling me what happened?”

Only the low static of the holograms and the commotion happening outside could be heard for a couple of minutes before their commander sighed again and spoke

“All the other agents are safe. Jett, Raze, and Phoenix are somewhere in Brazil while Sage and Skye were evacuated to an off-shore facility near the U.S. As for us three, we’re in Halifax, Canada. It should be safe here...for now”

“Brim…” Killjoy muttered

“Not to be offensive or anything but why did you establish VALORANT?” 

Brimstone was hesitant at first to answer but he recollected himself and replied

“Kingdom is a selfish corporation. They want to harness every radianite they see and use it for their personal gains and motives...”

“But aren’t we doing the same thing…? The tech I work with are mostly radianite powered, the spike you asked me design was purposely made to get radianite after it explodes and your big satellite-”

“Hush little engineer. What we do, we do for the greater good” Cypher interjected while playing with his tripwires

“And...you better ask the co-founder why we have a war against Kingdom”

“Whose the-?”

“Me” Viper hissed which gave Killjoy goosebumps across her body

“You never told me…”

“It’s not of great importance...what matters is that I see Kingdom burn to the ground for everything...for everything they took from me.”

The venomous words Viper uttered was enough to give everyone chills down their spines as they slowly moved away from her 

“I wish we could have more soldiers like him…” Brimstone added

Viper raised her head and scowled softly at Brimstone

“Not now Brim...”

He knew it wasn’t the best time to discuss what had happened to Ben so he nodded in agreement and spoke about something else. Meanwhile Killjoy approached Viper who tried avoiding any interaction with her

“Fuck off”

Killjoy reached for something in her pocket which made Viper quirk an eyebrow.

“Here...it’s yours”

She then handed her the necklace Viper furiously threw at Ben the night she caught them kissing. 

Viper felt love flow through her heart again and was about to grab it but she pulled her hand back and looked at Killjoy straight in the eye.

“He left me, I don’t want anything to do with him anymore. Any memory of him now will just bring me more pain.”

Killjoy was taken aback by the words her former lover spoke. ‘How can she say that to Ben?’

“Sabine...how can you-”

Viper then grunted as the pain in her stomach stung her even more.

“Sabine are you ok?”

“Yeah...I just need...need to-”

“Viper, go to the med bay. Now” Brimstone commanded

“No, I’m fine”

“Now”

Despite the distance and Brimstone being a mere hologram, his commanding presence was felt by Viper who was annoyed by it but she didn’t bother to argue because of the pain she feeling

“Whatever old man”

“Killjoy go help-”

Viper stormed out of the room before Brimstone could finish, bumping some of the people outside. She was about to be halted by one of the soldiers she bumped into but a glimpse of her outfit and a slight turn of her head was enough to scare off the soldier. 

“*sigh*, she still acts like a little girl...a scary little girl. Close the door will you?”

“Now that she’s gone let’s talk about our beloved Captain, anyone wanna start?”

Omen stepped out of the shadows and spoke

“Sabine went crazy. She tried to stop him from taking off”

He then glanced at both Reyna and Killjoy

“We exhausted ourselves just to stop her pursuit”

“Ben never told me this plan of his...perhaps he would have known that I’d disagree...continue Omen”

“After some time, our pilots spotted his plane on their radar. They didn’t have to be told what to do as they decreased the throttle so that Ben could catch up”

“He bid his last then vanished into the thick clouds in an instant. We then heard some explosion and we knew that was it for him...That’s when Sabine went berserk”

Breach himself lost focus on fixing his arms and instead listened more closely to what the hooded agent was saying 

“She opened the ramps which of course, alerted the pilots. They tried closing it but that monster shot their control panel. Sova...poor bastard, saw that Sabine was about to let loose another round, jumped so that no pilot could be harmed”

Brimstone scratched his ever whitening beard and asked “Why exactly did she want to open the ramps? I mean really...why?”

“There was an Odin on board the plane…”

“She’s a mad scientist after all, heh” Cypher giggled which caused everyone to stare at him

“*sigh*, I didn’t say anything...uhm, what happened next?” 

“Killjoy here pulled her back to safety by using her scarf as a lasso...something she probably learned with our Texan Captain”

The mention of the scarf saddened Killjoy but she nonetheless remained adamant and showed no signs of grief. 

“Our fighters then swooped in and escorted us here. End of story.”

Brimstone, being the stressful man that he is, removed his beret and gave his head a quick scratch before continuing. 

“Ok, we’ll have lots of time to mourn for him but right now…” He darted at everyone’s eyes

“Right now, we gotta find the mole”

“ I literally don’t know where to start...Cypher has been working on it too but with no luck”

“Yes...you don’t have to mention that” Cypher disappointingly said

“Anyways-”

Before Brimstone could continue the door opened and an Asian man with a slick blue dyed hair matching his leather jacket came barraging in.

“Konnichiwa!, Name’s Yoru, I’m your new gun. Mr. Brim here told me that this is the place for us radiant users and…” 

He then caught a glimpse of the Mexican woman lewdly staring at him which made him pull out his comb and brush his slick hair. 

“Another oriental...I guess Sage isn’t the only one I’ll be dominating...” Reyna said while pouting her lips and slanting her eyes.

“Reyna...not now” Brimstone pleaded, which made Killjoy and Cypher giggle. Breach had seen one too many relationships within VALORANT already so he just rolled his eyes but was grinning. Omen...was being Omen.

“Agent 15, tell them what you can do”

He cleared his throat first and fixed his jacket which looked like it would rival phoenix’s white one

“Please, just call me Yoru”

“Yes we know that, carry on” Brimstone sighed while rolling his eyes

“My first ability is like a bait. I can spawn fake footsteps that actually mimics the sound of it. Useful for confusing the enemies, They'll never know if I’m following it or if I’m just playing around with it”

He then focused his energy on his hands and released something on the ground. It then walked, making splashes and footsteps as it circled the room but clearly with no body. This was proven when Killjoy swiped her had over it and felt nothing.

“Cool eh?”

“Now for my next one, I can throw an unstable fragment of reality that flashes the enemies when it hits a hard surface...of course no demonstration, I don’t want to blind anyone here”

He then winked at Reyna which made her quirk lustfully. 

Yoru then regained his focus when he noticed Brimstone grumpily glaring at him

“A-And for my third ability. I can somewhat teleport”

“Interesting…” Omen commented in is hoarse voice which creeped out the new agent

“Uhh hai...here I’ll show you but first...what is your name...señorita, I assume you are from the Americas with that lovely accent”

“Call me Reyna, baby”

Yoru smiled and offered his hand

“Come here, I have a treat for you”

“Oh?”

Killjoy and the others watched as Yoru drag Reyna to the center of the room and told her to stand just there. He then placed a blue orb in front of her and told her to wait as he strolled out of the room.

“Reyna, Reyna, Reyna...I wonder what Sage will think of this”

Like Viper, Reyna doesn’t like it when personal things like relationships are being talked about but she does like it when she herself delves into other’s relationships.

“She won’t know and besides, I’m just infatuating the guy” Reyna demonically huffed

“Such evil...” Cypher audibly whispered

All of a sudden, Yoru materialized from the glowing blue orb he placed and was and inch close to Reyna's face that he could see her eyes breath purple. He then offered Reyna a chili

“Are you mocking me, cariño?”

“Gomen, heh heh... it’s the only thing I could think of and get” The taller Japanese agent expressed while scratching his head

Reyna took her seat but wasn’t really disappointed as she took a bite of the chili while still fixated on Yoru. Omen was slowly nodding his head in approval

“Didn’t expect you to eat it but ok…”

He then stretched and cracked his neck

“When I’m all powered up this is what I can do”

He ripped a small piece of reality itself in front of him and grabbed what seemed to be a mask. Once he strapped it on he vanished out of existence. Everyone spun in search of the ninja like agent but couldn't find him

“Was? Where did he go this time?” Killjoy asked 

"I can feel his heart...but no at the same time" Reyna mentioned as she tried sensing where Yoru might be

She then felt something rip and a presence form near her back. Yoru then let out a soft

“Behind you”

“Oh  scheiße!, you got me there” Killjoy yelped

Yoru then took a seat and put his feet on the table 

“Looks like you got competition now Omen, my money’s going to Yoru” Breach proudly said

“Do not question my abilities tin man”

Everyone was now having a good laugh except for the Old Dog

“Pete’s sake…” he wearily grunted 

\---

‘Fucking hell...how...I don’t remember us doing it...was I drunk...was he drunk...no...It must be his sexsomia?’ Viper thought to herself as she stared at a reflection of her drowsy face. fatigued eyes, dry lips, bushy hair, and makeup worn off.

She then vomited on the sink for the second time now.

‘No...not now, not without him...I can’t do this...I’m not fit for this’

A tear dropped from her eye as she massaged her stomach. She knew what she was carrying and she knew wasn’t capable of taking responsibility for it but she had to. Despite Ben buried now more than 6 feet under snow, she knows that killing the thing inside her would make Ben spin wildly in his grave.

Minutes have passed and it was time for the moment of truth. She washed her face with cold water to make sure she was alive. She took the plastic object she left on the toilet seat. What came next gave her a heart attack

‘Two lines…’

\---

“Is that all?”

“Yes sir, I’ve managed to get my girlfr-, one of the agents tech too”

“I see...We’ll modify it and be ready for you once you come back from your leave. You’ve done our corporation proud son. Soon peace will be ensured. Humanity and radiants alike will live in harmony...shame that your friends think otherwise.”

“We do not wish to kill them, I do not want to take someone you hold so dear...but when the time comes…can I rely on you...cowboy?”

He raised his head and clutched his hands 

“For the greater good, for the generations to come...for Kingdom”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it's Monday and hell has started again


	14. NOT A CHAPTER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NOT A CHAPTER  
> A CHAPTER NOT  
> CHAPTER NOT A

So uhh, college is tough, like real tough. I have lots of ideas for the next chapters but...also projects, lots of em. Plus finals is almost near. I'll try to get out the next chapter next week but no assurance. Please bear with me y'all, this crap's real hard but...I can't, I won't stop writing about Viper and how big of a dick she is XD . Anyways thanks for sticking around, till the next chapters :)


	15. Chapter 15

**_Some Years Later..._ **

“Auntie K, why does mommy only cook spaghetti?” The little girl asked while slurping the cold noodle her mom left for her

“It’s uhh...her favorite” Killjoy smiled and wiped the tomato smudges on her niece’s little puffy cheeks. 

Despite having no familial relation to the girl. Killjoy acted as her mother figure. Spending more time with her than her actual mother who’s always “busy” at work.

“Does mommy love me?”

Killjoy gazed at her small green bubbly eyes. She was basically a carbon copy of Viper, even how her hair was done was like Viper’s, except she’s a kid. Has slightly slanted eyes and olive skin, contrasting her mother’s pale complexion. She’s also much more talkative than her mother

“Yes, yes of course. She wouldn’t make you that delicious meal if she didn’t love you. Your mommy just works a lot...works a lot for you and trust me when I say this. You’re the most important thing in the world for her. If someone dares to hurt you, they’ll have to face your mom’s wrath”

“Say after this, we head to my lab. I’ll let you play with my bots”

“Really?...I broke some last time...” she mumbled 

Killjoy wanted to squish her face so badly but didn’t want to hurt her. Instead, she patted and gave her puffy cheek a smooch. 

“Hey, don’t think about that. There’s nothing your Auntie K can’t fix. Except of course if you get hurt which won’t be good if your mom finds out...so please be careful this time?”

“Promise”

Killjoy smiled and waited for her niece to finish her dinner before heading to the bathroom and help her brush her teeth. 

“Alright Clem, let’s go”

Just as they were about to leave the room, the door opened and there, the little girl knew who was in front of her. She slowly looked up and saw a reflection of her older self , staring directly in her windows

“Going somewhere Clementine?” 

“Uh..uhh…” she started stuttering as her mother rarely comes home this early, luckily her Auntie spoke for her

“We-we’re gonna get some dessert, Clem here just wants an ice cream, right Clem?”

Viper could clearly see the lie they were trying to create but she nonetheless played along

“And?”

“And go back here, we had nothing else in mind except that”

“Sure…” she coldy hissed. She and Killjoy were never the same but they still had respect for each other and somewhat considered each other as friends.

Clementine’s mother crouched and met her daughter eye to eye. She was so scared to look at her mother’s sharp eyes that she unconsciously squirmed closer to her aunt

“Clementine...” she softly said but with much intimidation

“I-I just want ice cream”

“Is that so? Well I brought you something else”

Clementine was surprised that her mother brought her something. The last time she received something from her was when Viper gave her a turtleneck on her sixth birthday eight months ago. Viper then stood up and cleared a way for the tall German in front of her

“Now would you mind”

“Oh ja, good night Clem”

Killjoy gave her one more pat and went her way. Clementine felt even more scared as she was now alone with the person she feared the most. Viper kept her eye on her until the door automatically closed behind her. She walked past her daughter and pulled a paper bag from her lab coat but before she placed the bag, she saw that Clementine had failed to do one of her responsibilities.

“Your plate”

“Y-yes mom, I’ll clean it right away”

She rushed to get the plate and escape her mother but she was stopped by that exact person

“No. Sit down”

Clementine nervously nodded and did as she was told

Viper then grabbed the contents of the bag and Clementine was surprised to see two chocolate coated doughnuts covered with sprinkles. 

“Is this for me?”

“I don’t feed your aunt to babysit you, yes it’s for you”

Clementine was delighted by her mother’s little surprise for her but still felt a barrier between them. 

“Th-Thank you mommy”

Viper only nodded and the two ate their doughnuts as if they were in a convent. 

“So, how’s school?”

Clementine wiped her mouth and faced her mother “We were talking about our dream jobs and...I told them that...”

She gazed at her mother again and clearly she already knew the answer, judging by the way she’s smiling and how narrowed her eyes were

“Mommy, you already know the answer do you?”

“Do you really want to have these?”

Viper, over the years, experienced more mishaps in her experiments resulting in more chemical burns covering her hands.

Clementine was slightly shaking in fear as she was looking at her mother’s burnt hands but kept her cool and touched them

“I-It’s just some burns ma, nothing I couldn’t handle”

Viper sighed and brushed her daughter’s hair, which she rarely did.

“You look so much like me...but you act so much like your father”

“Oh...mommy, can you tell me more about dad? I know you don’t like talking about him and...I want to sleep with you ”

She received a half-hearted smile and sighed again. Despite the coldness of her heart, Clementine was still her daughter and she cared deeply for her. The young girl has trouble understanding this but she always feels safe, too safe every time she’s around her mother. 

“I’ll just tidy up, clean up this mess first will you”

“Yes mom” she nodded

“And oh, brush your teeth again” 

“Yes I know ma…”

She watched as her mother walked down the hall. Her heels echoed as she entered her room and disappeared from her sight. Their room was much bigger than the rest of the VALORANT agents as they were of course, a family. It had two rooms and a giant living/dining area complete with a 64 inch curved T.V., and a sectional couch, too big for two people

‘I love mom but I feel like I love Auntie K more…’

She shook her head rapidly ‘No don’t say that Clem, you love mom. Mommy’s just tired from work, she loves you, she loves you’

Clementine kept pondering as she was cleaning up the table that she hadn’t noticed her mother, now wearing her nightgown standing at the door with her arms crossed. 

“Oh, sorry...”

She rarely entered her mother’s room primarily because her mother told her not to do so without her permission and if anything, the last time she slept with her mother was when she was a baby, something’s really up tonight. 

Viper switched off the lights except for the lamp standing on the nightstand. They both settled in the bed but with some space in between them. Viper though, wasn’t gonna sleep yet and instead read through some of her lab reports, clearly forgetting the reason why her daughter was here. 

Clementine was shy at first but soon gained some will to ask her mother if they could talk.

“Oh yes, forgive me. Work is slowly killing your mom, so what was it you wanted to talk about”

“Dad…” she inaudibly mumbled

“Speak up Clem”

“Work. Your work mom, besides being a scientist. The one where you shoot guns”

Viper exasperatedly sighed and set her papers on the nightstand.

“Well...I guess I could tell you about the world we live in despite Brim telling me not to tell you. We have been fighting with this evil company called “Kingdom” for almost a decade now.”

“Besides them, we also have to fend off our clones that come from different worlds”

“Clones?” the little girl asked

“Copies of ourselves”

The look her mother gave scared her but at the same time sparked her curiosity

“There’s more of me?”

Viper gazed at the ceiling “I’m not entirely sure actually...We’ve studied some of the worlds and came to the conclusion that ours is very different.”

“See here, the spike that your Auntie K created was made to harvest radianite-”

“Radianite?”

“Think of it as energy, very powerful energy that can give you uhh...powers”

“Do you have powers?”

Viper couldn’t help but smile at how intrigued her smaller version was as she clung to her arm and leaned on it. She wondered if her mother harbored the same feelings when she was a child.

“No, Clem but I use it to develop my weapons”

“Oh”

“Anyways, something’s just different with the other worlds. When I faced off against one of my copies, it didn’t feel like shooting a version of myself, she felt like a different person. 

Clementine thought of the fact that there are different versions of her mother, and possibly her.

‘What if they come here and secretly replace mom...they can’t be that bad, can they?’

“And...they always do the invading. Not once did we try to steal the radianite from their worlds. It’s like their versions have stronger motives and desires…and it was always me...my copies who would lead in these attacks... just like the monster I am”

The last few words were uttered silently but Clementine heard all of them

“You’re not a monster, you’re my mommy” she asserted while furrowing her face in her mother’s arms

Viper just lost all restraint and leaned on her daughter while giving her some kisses on the forehead. 

“Mommy, you’re not a monster. Those copies of you are not you, you’re my one and only mom”

Viper chuckled and gave her another peck on the forehead

‘Wow, mommy’s really different tonight...what if? No, no’ 

“Listen, I was gonna stay up all night and read my papers but I think I need some rest. Tomorrow we’ll do something together. Just you and me, ok?”

She grinned “I’d love to mom”

Viper gave her one last kiss before dimming the lamp and wrapping her in her arms like she was still a baby

‘Mommy...loves me’

“Goodnight mini-me

“Sweet dreams mommy”

They both chuckled and snuggled closely together. Clementine out of nowhere felt her mother’s love which she always yearned for. Viper, who rarely had time for her only child now watches as her baby slowly falls asleep. Every stressful thought, every problem was replaced by the marshmallow-like face in front of her. She gave it one very last kiss and dropped a tear before she herself drifted to sleep

‘I wish you were here…’ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell week still ain't over but that ain't gonna stop me from writing. Forgive me if there any grammatical mistakes in this one, I feel like a zombie right now.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small gory part here. Real small, like a dot...literally

“In position”

“Copy, who are we up against this time?”

“They got a Sage, Phoenix, Killjoy, Breach, Viper and a couple of their soldiers. All in A site”

“Understood. Once they’ve dispersed take out their Sage first then we’ll move”

“Roger”

The sniper zeroed her sights towards the healer and patiently waited for the moment. 

“Alright team, y’all know the plan”

The soldiers nodded and the team split in two. Three went to A tower and the rest along with their Captain, sneaked inside A lamps. 

“Sitrep?”

“Sage and Breach are still on site. Plus three or maybe four soldiers”

‘It’s not them, it’s not them. You’ve done this a lot of times now Ben. That’s not your Sabine’ he thought to himself

He sighed which was amplified by his mask ,then readied a snakebite. One last look at his soldiers then he heard a gunshot and a scream.

“SAGE IS DOWN!”

Wasting no time, Ben peeked out and sent an acid vial to A short followed by a poison orb that fumed yellow smoke, blocking the sight and lungs of those who tried to enter.

“Go, go, go”

His team stepped out and gunned down the disoriented soldiers left and right. One even slipped on the teleporter as he was shot down by Ben’s soldiers. 

'Well that'll alert whoever's on the other side' 

“Clear!”

Ben threw a diffuser to one of his soldiers while he told the others to watch their angles.

“Wait, where’s Breach?”

The ground beneath then started cracking and before you know it, all of them were sent some feet off the ground, fully concussed. A flash then followed and multiple cut screams were heard. The sound of an Odin was also heard ripping through baths as the bionic rained hell on the Kingdom soldiers. 

“Darn convict, should have stayed in jail. Cover me, I’ll go flank him” 

The soldiers nodded and covered Ben as he rushed towards A short. Ben picked up his orb from the pile of dead bodies and silently made his way through baths, taking advantage of the noise Breach was creating. 

“Sir, Phoeni-”

Another cut, this time from the sniper providing over watch from a building in the middle of the area

“Dead fool...”

Ben knew who that voice belonged to so he wasted no time and took out Breach with a clean shot to the head with his Marshall. Once he was taken care off, Ben equipped his chemical sprayer and a visor came down from his helmet that locked in with his mask. A yellow pit of gas soon emerged and the soldiers hid in it while Ben diffused the spike. 

“Diffused. Diffused...” he groaned

As Ben was about to stand up, a bullet ripped right through his left shoulder causing him to fall down and lean to the radianite boxes behind him. Glowing eyes soon approached him and he immediately knew who it was.

“Fascinating, Kingdom has their own version of me. Now who might you be…”

The woman crouched and was about to unmask Kingdom’s “version” of her when a bullet dug a hole in her head, splattering Ben’s visor with her blood. She then dropped her gun and collapsed on top of Ben. Running out of fuel, Ben deactivated his pit while his visor retracted and soon, the orange Moroccan sun was seen setting over the horizon. 

“Your love”

The soldiers removed the dead Viper off of Ben and helped him to his feet

“Phoenix and Killjoy?-”

“SABINE!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER YOU ANIMALS!?!?!?!”

Ben watched as a copy of his dear friend barked and cursed him while the soldiers did what they could to restrain her. 

“I swear I’ll make you schweines pay for taking my Sabine from me…”

"Phoenix?"

"Fire's out sir"

Ben nodded “Take her away...”

The soldiers did as they were told and pulled the enraged German away. 

“You haven’t seen the last of me!!!”

Ben watched her get dragged away then focused his attention to the copy of his dead Viper. He crouched and gently removed her mask. Her green eyes were rolled up and her mouth was open as blood oozed from her forehead. Despite her not being Ben’s actual Viper. He still felt hurt every time her life was taken away in his previous missions. She was still after all...the same Sabine, except from another earth so it was important to always hide his face lest another conflict between them arises. 

“Still beautiful...even in death”

He gave her hair some light strokes then closed her eyes and laid her on the ground.

“Rest now Sabine...you deserve it”

“We’ll take it from here, sir”

Ben nodded and let the clean up crew do their work while he made his way to one of the armored cars transporting them back to their base nearby. Inside was the captured Killjoy too, her eyes furiously fixated on Ben as he removed his mask for a brief time.

“How dare you use our technology...especially her equipment”

‘Something’s really off...why haven’t I ever seen a copy of me? I know Kingdom has agreed with the other Kingdom corporations to work together to stop this mess but where’s...me?’

‘Why doesn’t any of the VALORANT agents know me? Especially K...’

“KJ, I-”

“Don’t you KJ me, arschloch...” she snarled

“You took the most precious person in my life away from me. I swear I’ll make you pay”

The fury in her eyes was like no other. It’s like for once her height actually made her a lot scarier but this didn't obviously bother Ben.

“You really don’t know me?”

“Silly Kingdom soldier, don’t play games with me”

Kingdom was also baffled by the fact that there were no other Bens except this one. Rumor has it that Ben’s Viper was the only Viper that spared his life that night they met again. Though not yet confirmed, Ben found it hard to believe that the other Vipers killed him in their universes. He snapped out of his thoughts and put his mask back on and spoke to Killjoy.

“Look, you won’t understand for now but in time you will. I’m sorry about your Sabine though…”

Killjoy dropped tears and growled even more. Her cuffs were starting to get red because of the restraints tightening as she constantly pulled.

“Don’t you ever....ever say that name. Say it again and it’ll be your last”

Ben just gave a nod and leaned on the medic tending to his wound.

"Sir..." she blushed

Sleep soon overcame him as he stared at his gloves which were slightly covered in no other than Viper’s blood. 

\---

_ “Daddy? Daddy!” _

_ “I’m so glad to see you daddy!” _

_ “Daddy… _

_ “No please” _

_ “Wake up daddy, wake up!, Wake up!” _

“WAKE UP!”

Ben snapped backed into reality when he heard his superior shouting at him

“Keep it together boy, this is the third time you’ve fallen asleep. Do you know how important this meeting is?”

“With all due respect sir, can we just please cut to the chase?”

Despite Ben’s lack of respect for his superior. The commander held his anger and just gave Ben a smirk.

“We’ll be making a truce and work with our Earth’s VALORANT protocol. They’re pretty much silent these days so I guess we could enlist their help to fight the bigger threat and besides. Something's really different...”

Ben had to shake and slap his head multiple times and asked if what he was hearing was true. 

“Yes, so I suggest you start preparing your apology speech. Don’t worry, we won’t leave you alone this time”

Ben didn’t really know how to react to this situation he was now in. He’ll finally get to see Viper again but how will they react when they soon find out he faked his death and was still working with Kingdom this whole time?

“Any objections?”

Ben gulped “N-no sir”

“And oh, you’re taking our Killjoy with you”

‘Great, just when I thought it couldn't get worse...’


	17. NOT A CHAPTER (Again)...sorry

Crap's been hard lately. I already flunked 5 subjects this term which made me lose some will to write and play valo. Fearing that I'd drop college, I'd have to work on my body cuz like Ben in this story, I wanna do military service, not only is it our family tradition, it's really my desire to protect and serve people. I don't want my life to go to waste cuz I couldn't do good in my first year of college so I'd at least try enlisting. Mark my words though, I will complete this story now that lil' Clementine is here. I just don't want to write right now, it may affect the story. Thanks again for reading my stuff, it really makes me happy :)


	18. Chapter 18

“Can you stop calling me K?!?” The tall German fumed at the shorter Texan in front of her 

“What do you want me to call you then?” the man groaned

“Don’t talk to me like you know me, arschloch”

“Arschloch it is”

Killjoy wanted to bite off the grin on Ben’s face but unfortunately for her, she was cuffed to a pole.

“Look, I’m...was close friends with this...my Earth’s KJ and of course Sabine was my-”

“Me friends with you? Hah!What a silly joke. And Sabine...what do you even know about her…”

“A lot more than you know”

The engineer couldn’t contain her fury and tried to lunge at Ben as if she were a chained dog. Every ounce of her wanted to rip the man in front of her for having the audacity to claim that he knew more of her lover than her

“I swear I’m gonna take your Earth’s Sabine. She’s mine, all of her is mine and you neither my copy won’t stop me”

“Don’t be stupid”

Ben exasperated and uncuffed Killjoy, letting lose the animal that immediately pounced on him

“Did you steal this mask from her?!?!” she growled while choking Ben.

Ben, seeing how unprofessional Killjoy was, took the opportunity to activate his chemical sprayers and gassed the whole room with his yellow juice. Killjoy soon tunnel visioned and hallucinated as she saw Ben connect his mask to the visor on his helmet. She felt like she was hit by one of Omen’s Paranoias as she collapsed on the ground.

“You’ll understand...in time”

‘Sabine…help…me’

  
  


\---

“Mommy…can you uhh...”

Clementine was clearly hiding something behind her back but the box was too big to be concealed, giving her mom a hint on what she was hiding 

Viper sighed but cracked a smile at her little ball of happiness

“Just put it on the counter”

Clementine’s face was filled with glee as she rushed to the counter to get the thing paid.

“You love science kid?”

“Yes, I wanna be like my mommy”

“Aww that’s sweet, now where is your mom-”

Before the clerk could finish her sentence, Viper was already standing behind her daughter and on her scarred hands was her credit card.

The clerk trembled at the sight of the chemist’s hands. Her glare doubled the shivers the clerk received. 

“Well? Are you giving this to us for free?”

The woman snapped back into reality and nervously took the card from Viper’s fingers. The only thing that calmed her right now was the sight of the little girl beaming at her with her bubbly eyes.

“He-Here you go”

Clementine grabbed the plastic bag and hugged her mom

“Thanks mommy”

Viper, still insecure with the whole PDA thingy, patted her daughter on the head and grabbed her by the hand and rushed to the exit.

“Something wrong mommy?”

“N-no, no. I’m just hungry. What do you want to eat?” 

Clementine pondered for a minute and decided to just eat whatever was served back at the base. This surprised her mother a lot as her little one is known to munch down every nugget her Auntie K brings her from McWendy’s. The drive from the mall back to the base was about an hour long so when they got back to base, everyone was pretty much wrapping up their lunch. But people weren’t wrapping up, they were all on their guard. Staring at the greyish uniformed men all in tactical gear and balaclavas covering their faces. One though was wearing a oddly familiar mask.

.

‘Wait, gray...gold stripes’

“Go to your room”

“But ma-”

One sharp look from her mother was enough to signal her that her mother was serious so out of fear and obedience, she hurried to her room without further questions.

\---

“Ah, Agent Viper good timing-”

“What is the meaning of this?” Viper cut. Making her commander, the Old Dog groan.

‘Crap, I can’t believe it’s really her. Keep calm, keep calm, not now man. Not now...and who was that little girl?’ 

“Look, we’ve reached a...concord with Kingdom beca-”

Again the chemist interrupted while the clacks of her heels echoed through the hall

“There will be no agreement of such with the enemy” she coldy hissed at one of the soldiers.

  
  


Viper got curious at one of the smaller soldiers and decided to approach them. Arms crossed, and eyes locked on the black visor she asked.

  
  


“Tell me soldier, when did Kingdom decide to model their masks on mine?”

‘No, please, not now Sabine’

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about ma’am”

Heart beating out of fear and excitement, Ben tried removing his accent and held his stance while the scientist examined his mask.

“Hmm...wait...why is it so similar…”

Despite the visor blocking her emerald eyes. The fierce look of her eyes was enough to penetrate the windows to his soul and give him some slight shivers. Though Ben liked how close Sabine was close to him, something he never thought would happen again. Every muscle of him was telling him to hug the person he cared for the most despite the complications and dilemmas of being a soldier. 

‘Wake up man!, Control it!’

A hand then forcefully clasped Viper’s wrist, making her jolt and grind her teeth at the soldier. There were a few gasps from the agents and VALORANT soldiers behind as they knew touching Viper freely, especially in this manner was basically a death wish.

“Let.”

“Go.” she menacingly murmured, scowl still fixated on Ben

Ben loosened his grip as Viper straightened her black sweater and gave him one more glare before finding a seat. 

‘No...he’s dead, I must be dreaming. But that voice…’

“Ok...sorry about that, boys. Now, since we haven’t been fighting with Kingdom lately, and they themselves have been fighting our doubles too, we’ve decided to put our differences aside and focus on closing the rifts that give the other worlds access to ours.

“We find it quite weird that we’re always on the defensive while our clones are always attacking and stealing our radianite. Even more weird is that the other Kingdom Corporations are actually cooperating with their counterparts here to put an end to this...making us look like the enemy”

Brimstone sighed then turned to one of the soldiers

“I’m told that you have brought something for us?”

“Yes” Ben quickly responded

“Bring her in please”

The doors then burst open as two soldiers struggle to control the KJ double furiously trying to break free from their restraints. Searching furiously for Viper, she finally caught sight of the snake sitting amongst the soldiers with her chin up, showing no sign of worry or anger.

“SABINE!!!”    
  


“I know I’m from a different world but please!!!” She cried out but all the double of her lover did was stare at her helpless state meanwhile the real KJ was standing in a corner, frozen at the sight of her “self” crying out for who used to be her girlfriend 

“Anyone???...please…” Disheartened, the double closed her eyes and let down some tears. Even Brimstone felt sad because this KJ was still in a way the same KJ she guarded and nurtured in their younger years.

“Yeah...she’s uhh...yeah. Give her to them.” 

The Kingdom soldiers handed over the depressed German over to their VALORANT counterparts whilst exchanging cold glares. 

"Well, we’ll be around if you need us-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up boys, we can’t just have you loitering around here” Brimstone quipped. 

‘C’mon old man, hurry up!’

“Actually no...just stay here, we’ll have you properly introduced later. We can’t possibly spend the rest of the hour listening to you boys tell how heroic you and Kingdom are” He huffed.

“All of you resume your duties, the day’s still full of work and my back is already failing me now get to it!”

All of the soldiers and agents lazily exited the hall. Viper stayed for a bit and stared at Ben before eventually averting her attention and leaving herself. 

Brimstone was intensively groaning as he leaned back and cracked his back in front of the Kingdom soldiers. 

“Sir uhh…”

“Yeah I know, I’m getting too old for this crap. Nice mask by the way boy. It’s very similar to Agent Viper’s mask, say...why do you specifically have that mask while the others dont...”

“I’ll take it from here” a voice with a distinct accent said to them from behind. He then removed his hat and placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder

“This is my job Brimstone, get some rest”

The old man didn’t bother to argue and went his, leaving the Kingdom soldiers behind with the best information broker himself, Cypher. 

“*sigh*, How much was it again?”

“Not here old friend, your boys can stay at the range. I already told the guard to give them permission to use it. An assistant is already waiting outside for them.”

Ben nodded and sighed “Well, you heard em. I’ll catch y’all later. Remember, be nice to these people, we’re their guests” 

Some of the soldiers gave a chuckle as they went to the exit “Sure thing ,cap”

“Ok, now to my office” 

As Ben and Cypher made their way to the office, Ben can’t help but remember the first time he walked through these halls. The icy stares of the agents and soldiers alike, then as time passed they’ve grown to love him. Not only as a soldier but as a person basically anyone can call a friend. Now he’s back, but as a Kingdom soldier again, as an enemy.

“10 grand. The additional 5’s coming soon”

Cypher examined the envelope Ben threw at his desk and made sure the no green was missing. 

“Hmm, this should do...oh yeah, you can remove your helmet and mask now , you're safe here”

Ben didn't trust those last words but Cypher after all was the only one he could truly trust within VALORANT so he removed his helmet and brushed his hair but kept his mask on

“Attached to the mask I see, I thought Kingdom was able to fix your lung problem?”

“Yes and no. The toxins Sabine used were so strong that the only solution Kingdom has come up with was to further modify this mask. They installed some kind of improved air filter that helps me breathe as normal. It also allows me to breathe normally without the mask for at least half an hour. After that, my lungs would start decaying again until I eventually die.”

“Pity” Cypher commented as he placed the envelope inside his desk

“Who’s the-”

“Your daughter.”

Ben’s almost fainted on those two words that came from the cyborg. 

“A-and y-you never told me about this?”

“It would...distract you too much” he smirked

“Cypher...you sick bastard” 

Ben took a seat and contemplated at the thought of having a daughter. Now he has a little thing that he needs to protect, but what possible explanation could he give her? And to to her self-destructive mother…

“W-what’s her name?”

Cypher huffed and played what seemed to be a country tune on his desktop

Eyes wide, he hummed to the tune and began to sing somberly

“ _ You are lost and gone forever, _

_ Dreadful sorrow… _

_ Clementine” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> College is still haunting me


End file.
